What’s the Eberly Center reading and thinking about this month?

The Research and Scholarship Digest, published the first Monday of each month, consists of short summaries of recently peer-reviewed studies on teaching and learning topics. This digest offers a view into what we are reading and thinking about at the Eberly Center that:

• adds to our understanding of how students learn
• is potentially generalizable across teaching contexts in higher education
• provokes reflection on implications for our teaching and educational development practices.

We hope the readers of this digest will find it a useful resource for staying in-tune with the rapidly expanding education research literature.

Beimel, D. (2025). Closing the gap through active learning variety and extent: A large-scale assessment of teaching clarity and course evaluation among students with learning disabilities. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 86, 101484. 

Researchers investigated how the variety and extent of use of active learning methods impacts course evaluations and perceived clarity of teaching among students with learning disabilities (LD) in higher education. Surveys were administered across 23 different departments at one Israeli institution targeting lecture-style courses, resulting in over 44,000 completed surveys. Students were asked to report the extent to which different active learning methods were used (e.g., group activities) as well as their perceptions of teaching clarity in the course and overall course evaluation. Results showed that both overall course evaluations and perceptions of clarity were significantly associated with greater variety of active learning activities, as well as more frequent use of active learning activities. Furthermore, as the variety and extent of use of active learning increased, the gap in course evaluations and perceived clarity between students with and without LD shrunk considerably (students with LD reported considerably lower scores overall, which is consistent with prior research). Further analyses revealed minimal variance in these effects across faculty and departments, supporting the generalizability of these findings across different academic contexts.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2025.101484

Chan, C. K. Y., & Lee, K. K. (2025). The Balancing Act between AI and Authenticity in Assessment: A Case Study of Secondary School Students’ Use of GenAI in Reflective Writing. Computers & Education, 105399. 

This research article explores how secondary school students (aged 14 to 17) navigate the integration of Generative AI tools in reflective writing tasks. Through qualitative case study, the authors investigated students' engagement with AI during a three-week internship, analyzing their reflective essays, AI chat logs, and individual interviews. Using inductive thematic analysis, they found that while GenAI facilitated technical writing skills and reduced cognitive load, it also introduced challenges related to authenticity, depth of reflection, and student reliance on technology, leading to a phenomenon termed "AI guilt." According to the authors, AI guilt emerged in three key emotional and cognitive dimensions:

1. Perceived Laziness and Authenticity - Students worried that extensive AI use was making them "lazy" and undermining their genuine effort and engagement in writing tasks. They were concerned about losing their authentic voice, as the polished output from AI did not always align with their personal thoughts or reflections. 

2. Fear of Judgment - Participants expressed anxiety about potential judgment from teachers and peers, motivating them to use AI primarily to refine their writing quality. Students used AI to avoid negative evaluation, embarrassment, or being perceived as inadequate writers, thus indirectly amplifying their guilt and reliance on AI.

3. Identity and Self-Efficacy Concerns - The students questioned their capability to produce quality reflective writing independently due to growing reliance on AI, fearing this dependence might diminish their self-confidence and undermine their writing skills in the long term.

Karakoc, G., Alacaci, C., & Ayas, A. (2025). A strategy to engage students in inquiry-based learning of mathematics: predict, observe and explain. Instructional Science, 1-28. 

This research investigates the effectiveness of the Predict, Observe, and Explain (POE) instructional approach in helping secondary students overcome persistent challenges in understanding mathematical functions. Secondary students often struggle to connect algebraic and graphical representations of functions, perceiving them as separate problems rather than integrated tools for quantitative reasoning.

Using a quasi-experimental design in a Turkish secondary school, the researchers compared the performance of students taught using the POE method against a control group that solved problems directly. The study involved 82 students from Grade 10 and 11, focusing on how POE could enhance their ability to solve optimization problems with various function types (quadratic, exponential, etc.).

The results show that the POE approach significantly improves students' overall performance and conceptual understanding of functions. The experimental group, which engaged in making predictions, observing outcomes with concrete materials, and explaining their findings, consistently scored higher on mathematical tasks. This approach particularly enhanced students' ability to develop algebraic expressions, manipulate them for problem-solving, and interpret both graphical and algebraic solutions within a given context. The POE method not only boosted performance but also fostered deeper engagement and reflection, leading to a more profound understanding of the core concepts of function.

Owenz, M. B., & Pilny, E. (2025). Developing Trust with Students Before Class 1: Effects of a Visual Syllabus on Expected Professor-Student Rapport. College Teaching, 1-8.

In this study, thirty-two undergraduate students enrolled in two different sections of an “Abnormal Psychology” course were surveyed about their experiences receiving and reading either a standard text-based syllabus or a visual syllabus. The visual syllabus, a three-page adaptation and condensation of the eight-page standard syllabus, incorporated images, streamlined text, and linked to university policies. After receiving the syllabus, students completed the Professor-Student Rapport Scale as well as a survey about their comfort level with and expectations of the course. Students in the visual syllabus condition rated the professor significantly higher on the item Professor Creates an Engaging and Constructive Atmosphere on the Rapport Scale and were significantly more comfortable with the requirements for the course. Researchers also found that students in the visual syllabus treatment reported lower anticipatory anxiety about the course and responded to open-ended survey questions using more positive emotional language. The authors postulate that the visual syllabus is more engaging for students as well as more focused on learning rather than rules and policies, which may increase students’ positive perception of the course and the professor.

Schweppe, J., Lenk-Blochowitz, A., Pucher, M., & Ketzer-Nöltge, A. (2025). Interleaved practice in foreign language grammar learning: A field study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(6), 998–1011. 

Prior research on interleaving in foreign language learning has yielded mixed results, suggesting that it may not enhance learning in all areas of language learning. A primary hypothesis for the interleaving effect is the discriminative contrast hypothesis, which suggests that interleaving is most effective for concepts that are very similar and difficult to distinguish, leading the authors to hypothesize that interleaving would be particularly effective for learning grammar. In three experiments conducted in introductory Spanish courses, the authors tested interleaved vs blocked practice for learning the structure of particular verbs. For one experiment in which there was no correct answer feedback given during the practice sessions, no significant effect of interleaving was found on final test performance. When correct answer feedback was provided during practice for the other experiments, however, a significant positive effect of interleaving was found. Notably, when examining students’ artifacts from the practice sessions, interleaving led to significantly worse scores than blocking, despite this trend completely reversing on the final test (i.e., interleaving students performed worse during practice but better during the test). These findings highlight the potential importance of providing correct answer feedback during interleaved practice, and are consistent with recent laboratory research suggesting that interleaving can be beneficial for learning certain types of verbal materials.