Quick actionable summaries from the research on teaching and learning.
This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental research on ChatGPT’s impact on student learning (69 studies from 2022–2024). The goal was to move beyond simple correlations and look at causal effects of ChatGPT use in education settings.
Researchers examined how lecture video playback speed affects student learning by having undergraduates watch recorded lectures at normal speed (1x), faster speeds (1.5x, 2x, 2.5x), or by watching videos more than once at increased speed. Students completed comprehension tests immediately after viewing and again one week later. The study focused on whether faster playback harms understanding or long-term retention, a common concern among instructors using recorded lectures.
This study investigated a hybrid assessment format called Multiple-Choice with Elaboration Questions (MCEQs). In these questions, students not only select a multiple-choice answer but also must justify their choice in writing. The research was conducted across four sections of an upper-division psychology research methods course at a large public university.
This paper argues that students’ frequent use of ineffective learning strategies (like rereading and highlighting) isn’t just due to lack of awareness, time pressure, or goals — it may also reflect habitual behavior. Traditional research on self-regulated learning emphasizes deliberate choice and metacognition, but this article suggests that many study practices have become automatic routines triggered by environmental cues. Ineffective strategies often become habituated because they are easy, familiar, and contextually ingrained.
Fiorella and Mayer argue that learning is generative—students learn best when they actively make sense of new information by selecting, organizing, and integrating it with prior knowledge. They synthesize research identifying eight evidence-based strategies that consistently promote deeper understanding and transfer across contexts. These strategies shift learners from passive reception to active sense-making.
Is it more effective to take a 10-minute break halfway through a 90-minute lecture or a 90-second break every 10 minutes? Researchers investigated the effect of the timing of these breaks on learners in an undergraduate psychology course and have some interesting findings:
Researchers in India conducted a randomized-control trial study with close to 17,000 at 10 colleges to test the impact of mandatory in-class phone collection versus unrestricted phone use. What do you think they found?
Spoiler alert: you can’t tell how well the students actually learned in your course. While feedback on your course evaluations will be helpful to understand the student experience, a recently published meta-analysis found no correlation between student evaluations of teaching (SETs) and later performance, and actually a negative correlation after grade controls. When schools connected contract renewal to SETs, there was evidence of grade inflation by those instructors.
Deslauriers et al. (2019) compared traditional lecture with active learning in an introductory physics course. Although students in the active sections learned more—as shown by higher performance on objective tests—they felt like they learned less. The authors argue that active learning requires more cognitive effort, which students may interpret as poor learning, while smooth lectures create an illusion of learning. This mismatch suggests that student perceptions alone (e.g., course evaluations) can be misleading when judging teaching effectiveness.
Chew & Cerbin propose a research-based framework of nine interacting cognitive challenges that teachers must address in order to promote “optimal learning” rather than merely acceptable performance. They emphasize that teaching is not just delivering content but creating the conditions in which students learn. Each of the nine challenges represents a characteristic of how students think, learn, or struggle — the idea being that failure to address any one of these can undermine learning. The authors describe each challenge, provide examples, and suggest instructional strategies for mitigation.