Monika Szczygieł , Thomas E. Hunt , Mehmet Hayri Sarı
{"title":"Domain-specific and domain-general predictors of math anxiety in adolescents and adults","authors":"Monika Szczygieł , Thomas E. Hunt , Mehmet Hayri Sarı","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102400","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102400","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is well-established that a negative relation exists between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. However, because there has been no systematic quantitative research on the predictors of MA, we conducted three studies in adolescents and adults to address this gap. Focusing on the Polish population, we tested whether, and to what degree, domain-specific (mathematical resilience, intellectual helplessness in mathematics, math performance) and domain-general (sociodemographic: gender, age; affective: general anxiety, test anxiety; and cognitive: fluid intelligence, working memory, response inhibition) variables predict and explain variance in MA. We found that regardless of the sample and other variables included in the models, intellectual helplessness in mathematics and mathematical resilience are consistent and independent predictors of MA. Moreover, math performance, rather than math grades, serves as a consistent predictor of MA. The findings highlight the relative importance of these variables in understanding MA and indicate a need to focus on domain-specific variables in targeting MA reduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102400"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joseph Burey, Jasmine Kim, Nidhi Kohli, Kristen McMaster, Panayiota Kendeou
{"title":"The promise of computer-based literacy learning: the effect of ELCII on kindergarteners’ inference skill development","authors":"Joseph Burey, Jasmine Kim, Nidhi Kohli, Kristen McMaster, Panayiota Kendeou","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102399","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102399","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We evaluated the efficacy of Early Language Comprehension Individualized Instruction (ELCII), a supplemental computer-based early language comprehension intervention, in improving kindergarten students’ inference making performance. In Study 1, students completed ELCII modules over nine weeks, whereas a business-as-usual control group engaged in typical language comprehension instruction. Because of school closures due to the onset of COVID-19, the study was interrupted, and we were not able to complete implementation and post-testing. As a result, the analysis is focused on more deeply understanding the performance of the intervention group only. To further evaluate efficacy, we followed-up with a small-scale implementation a year later. In Study 2, students completed ELCII modules over five weeks and their performance was compared to that of a business-as-usual control group. Taken together, results indicated that all students, on average, improved in their inference generation performance over time and that growth did not differ across demographic subgroups. However, results also highlighted gaps that were present at the onset of the program, and unfortunately continued to persist. Results also indicated that the scaffolding and feedback components of the program were effective, with students who had lower initial inference performance benefiting more from ELCII. The findings from these studies suggest that ELCII is a feasible and beneficial program to support early language comprehension and inference making in kindergarten students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102399"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Overwhelmed receivers and overly ambitious providers: How the Impacts of peer comment features look different at receiver and provider levels of aggregation","authors":"Yi Zhang , Christian D. Schunn , Yong Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102397","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102397","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although research has explored what makes peer feedback useful, few studies have compared perceived helpfulness with actual implementation during revision. Additionally, previous studies often analyze individual feedback comments in isolation, rather than considering the overall feedback received by receivers or provided by providers. The present study explored the relationship between various comment features and their perceived helpfulness and implementation, predicting different relationships on the basis of an adapted Student-Feedback Interaction Model. The study also assessed whether these relationships exhibited aggregation effects at the levels of receiver or provider, predicting effects based upon cognitive/workload theory. Peer feedback data were analyzed from 844 students engaged in online peer feedback, who also evaluated the helpfulness of received comments. Comments were coded for suggestions, explanations, being long, and being implemented in a revision. Relationships with perceived helpfulness and implementation were examined at the individual comment, receiver, and provider levels. Multiple regressions showed that perceived helpfulness was predicted by comment length and the presence of suggestions whereas comment implementation was predicted by length and the presence of explanations, supporting the adapted model. In addition, feedback receivers appeared to be overwhelmed by receiving too many suggestions when judging helpfulness, and feedback providers appeared to provide less helpful explanations for revision when attempting to provide many explanations. These findings suggest that simply recommending greater use of feedback styles found helpful at the individual comment level may produce counter-productive effects for both feedback receivers and providers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102397"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144579183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The art of negative feedback: A neuroeducational perspective","authors":"S. Kim , Dajung Diane Shin","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102392","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102392","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of previous research on the impact of negative feedback on learning and motivation through a neuroeducational lens. The overarching goal is to optimize learning from negative feedback by aligning it with learners’ neurocognitive processes. We explore the role of negative feedback in error detection, emotion regulation, cognitive control, and behavioral adjustments, integrating key insights from cognitive, developmental, affective, and motivational neuroscience. In doing so, we examine how different types of negative feedback activate distinct neural responses. The neuroeducational literature suggests that negative feedback is most effective when it is informative, aligned with mastery goals and a growth mindset, and delivered in environments that foster competence and interest. Building on these findings, we propose an error-driven learning framework that employs practical strategies to enhance learners’ competence, spark curiosity, facilitate observational learning, and promote self-regulation. By creating a learning environment where learners embrace errors and refine their knowledge and skills, this framework ultimately empowers them to become agentic in their learning process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102392"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144557434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Should I stay or should I go? Children’s motivation in response to feedback and its association with math anxiety and math self-concept","authors":"Megan Merrick, Emily R. Fyfe","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102393","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102393","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Receiving corrective feedback can influence motivation in different ways – either inspiring learners to continue or leading learners to avoid the task. In the current study, we examined elementary school children’s in-the-moment behavioral motivation in response to feedback, and how it related to their anxiety and self-concept in mathematics. Children (<em>N</em> = 150; <em>M</em> age = 7.35; 44 % female; 65 % White) in the United States solved a series of mathematical equivalence problems in the context of a computer game (e.g., 3 + 4 = 5 +?). They received trial-by-trial feedback that included both knowledge of results (KR) and knowledge of the correct response (KCR), and they had the option to stop the game or keep playing after each level. Children were generally motivated and chose to complete many items. However, children who received a lot of negative feedback stopped the game earlier relative to others, and this was especially true when they also had high math anxiety or high math self-concept. In contrast to our predictions, higher math self-concept was not strongly associated with higher motivation to keep playing. These results have implications for theories on feedback and for designing problem-solving contexts that can support children’s motivation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102393"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144536155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carolina Lopera-Oquendo , Anastasiya A. Lipnevich , Ligia Tomazin , Ignacio Máñez , Samuel P. León , Nicola Beatson
{"title":"Unpacking Student Responses to Discrepant Peer and Teacher Feedback: A Cross-National Comparison","authors":"Carolina Lopera-Oquendo , Anastasiya A. Lipnevich , Ligia Tomazin , Ignacio Máñez , Samuel P. León , Nicola Beatson","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102394","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102394","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this experimental study we investigated the influence of <em>discrepant</em> feedback from teachers and peers on emotional responses and feedback appraisals in a sample of university students. A total of 753 tertiary education students from the United States (N = 172), New Zealand (N = 217), and Spain (N = 364), were presented with a scenario wherein they received two (discrepant) feedback messages that varied in terms of their focus and tone (suggestive/neutral vs. evaluative/positive). In the two conditions, the source of feedback was also manipulated. In condition one, participants saw that the teacher offered evaluative/positive feedback, with peers offering suggestive/neutral. In contrast, in condition two, the peer offered evaluative/positive message while the teacher provided suggestive/neutral. The findings from repeated measures ANOVA, cumulative models, and logistic regression revealed a clear preference among students for feedback from teachers over peers, regardless of the message’s focus and valence. Positive evaluative messages were found to elicit higher positive emotions. Interestingly, even when peer feedback was viewed as having advantages, students reported higher positive emotions and were more receptive of teacher feedback. These results were consistent across countries, although our findings did reveal country-specific patterns. These insights have practical implications for targeted training on feedback provision, highlighting the pedagogical value of peer feedback and offering important insights to engage students with diverse feedback sources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102394"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Students ignore their mistakes: Elaborated error feedback processing in a digital learning system","authors":"Uwe Maier, Christian Klotz","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102395","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102395","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital learning systems widely used in secondary schools frequently utilize formative mastery assessments to evaluate prior knowledge and provide elaborated feedback with recommendations for subsequent learning steps. While elaborated feedback is often considered beneficial for low-achieving students, research indicates that these students may overlook such feedback in digital learning environments. This study examines the interplay between student aptitude (school type, grade, and prior knowledge), task complexity, response certitude, and various facets of elaborated error feedback processing after formative mastery assessments: error feedback seeking, error feedback comprehension, and error feedback appraisal (perceived usefulness).</div><div>We analyzed 20,058 formative assessment cases from an adaptive German grammar app implemented in 182 secondary classrooms, encompassing 2,826 students. The key findings are: (1) Students in higher grades and academic-track secondary schools are more likely to seek elaborated error feedback but are more critical of its usefulness. (2) Task complexity (course content and level) significantly influences error feedback processing behaviors. (3) Low formative assessment scores, indicating low prior knowledge, are strongly associated with reduced error feedback seeking and error feedback comprehension, as well as a more critical perspective on error feedback usefulness. (4) Response certitude, particularly in cases of failing formative assessments, is positively linked to error feedback seeking and perceived error feedback usefulness.</div><div>These findings contribute to advancing feedback processing models by highlighting the importance of contextual factors in digital learning environments. Future research should focus on system-specific influences such as content complexity, error feedback structure, and options to choose or disregard error feedback.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102395"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144536156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sustaining teacher knowledge and self-perception of reading comprehension instruction: A year-long study of practice-based professional development","authors":"Marianne Rice , Kausalai (Kay) Wijekumar , Ashley Stack , Kacee Lambright","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102391","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102391","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examined a practice-based professional development (PBPD) program and implementation of a reading comprehension strategy, the Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation (KAT) Framework, over one school year and its relationship with teachers’ knowledge and self-perceptions about teaching reading comprehension. During the study, 189 upper elementary teachers from 27 schools across six U.S. school districts were randomly assigned to the KAT program (<em>n</em> = 102) or a control condition (<em>n</em> = 87). Teachers completed measures of main idea knowledge, reading comprehension knowledge, and self-perception of their ability to teach reading comprehension at three timepoints. KAT teachers demonstrated significantly higher scores than control teachers immediately following the PBPD on the main idea measure (<em>g</em> = 1.05) and the self-perception measure (<em>g</em> = 0.36), but not on the reading comprehension knowledge measure (<em>g</em> = -0.03). At the end of the school year, KAT teachers scored significantly higher than control teachers on the main idea measure (<em>g</em> = 0.97), the reading comprehension knowledge measure (<em>g</em> = 0.37) and the self-perception measure (<em>g</em> = 0.41). Results suggest the PBPD program and implementation of the reading comprehension instruction is positively associated with teachers’ content knowledge and perceptions of their ability to teach reading comprehension.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102391"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experimental impacts of a large-scale book giveaway intervention on parental literacy education beliefs","authors":"Si Chen , Shiyao Liu , Catherine E. Snow","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Book giveaways offer free books to hundreds of millions of children and families worldwide. However, little evidence exists of a causal link between book giveaways and a transformative shift in parental literacy education beliefs. The Reading Start Project (RSP) is a large-scale book giveaway intervention program implemented in China. RSP distributes free picture books and literacy education materials to 100,000 families every year. We recruited 1052 Chinese families and children from the eligible population to evaluate its effectiveness. Using a randomized encouragement research design with conjoint analyses, we estimated the causal impact of RSP on parental literacy education beliefs. RSP participation increased the value parents placed on purchasing picture books and their sense of efficacy in home literacy practices, especially among lower-education mothers and families with fewer books. As the largest home literacy intervention program for Chinese children, RSP has a profound social impact and provides an important empirical reference for promoting early family literacy interventions in China and other developing countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102389"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144321926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miriam Wuensch , Anne C. Frenzel , Reinhard Pekrun , Luning Sun
{"title":"Enjoyable for some, stressful for others? Physiological and subjective indicators of achievement emotions during adaptive versus fixed-item testing","authors":"Miriam Wuensch , Anne C. Frenzel , Reinhard Pekrun , Luning Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In light of the increasing use of computerized adaptive testing, we investigated how adaptive testing impacts test-takers’ subjective emotional experiences and their psychophysiological arousal. Applying a within-person design (<em>N</em> = 89), we compared participants’ affective states while working on an adaptive and a fixed-item test of numerical reasoning ability. During both tests, we continuously recorded participants’ skin conductance response. In addition, they filled in a self-report questionnaire after each of the three item blocks per test, assessing discrete achievement emotions (joy, pride, anger, boredom, frustration, and anxiety) and perceived level of task difficulty. As expected, participants showed higher levels of psychophysiological arousal in the adaptive compared to the fixed-item test, indicating that the adaptive test was more stimulating, independent of emotional valence. For subjective achievement emotions, we expected disordinal interaction effects between test type and ability (objective control experience) and between test type and relative perceived difficulty of the two tests (subjective control experience). This was supported for relative perceived difficulty, as participants indeed reported more joy and pride, and less frustration, anxiety, and anger on whichever test they subjectively perceived as easier. Meanwhile, no main effects of test type and no interaction between test type and ability were found. This is in line with the control-value theory and shows that it is not the adaptivity of a test that influences subjective emotional experience, but rather how difficult the adaptive test is perceived by test-takers compared to a fixed-item test. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102388"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144365935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}