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In this interview we asked Paul A. Kirschner about his comments and reflections regarding the idea to apply cognitive psychology-based instructional design principles to mathematics education and some related issues. With a main focus on cognitive psychology, educational psychology, educational technology and instructional design, this internationally well-known scholar reflects on the work conducted within the mathematics education community. This paper presents a summary of the comments and reflections that he expressed during the interview. A first main theme relates to the general idea behind the special issue, i.e. the feasibility of applying cognitive theory-based instructional design principles in the field of mathematics education. Second, the interview related to the set of instructional design principles that were included in the special issue and those that were omitted. Third, reflections are made on the differences between the application of instructional design principles in mathematics education research and in instructional design research more generally. One main idea running through this interview is that, according to Kirschner, mathematics education research is not necessarily a special field in its own, as the variation of instructional goals and of research foci within mathematics education is at least as large as the variation across different content domains.

This survey research, assessed whether novice secondary school teachers knew and understood the effectiveness of empirically-supported learning strategies, namely spaced practice, retrieval practice, interleaved practice, using multimodal representations, elaborative interrogation and worked-out examples. These ‘proven’ strategies can be contrasted with frequently used learning strategies that have been found to be less effective, such as re-reading, taking verbatim notes, highlighting/underlining, summarizing, and cramming. This study broadens previous research on teachers’ knowledge of learning strategies by both refining and extending the methodology used in the scenario studies, and by administering it to a different, previously unexplored population. Novice teachers enrolled in a teacher training program (N = 180) in Flanders, Belgium were presented with a three-part survey, consisting of open-ended questions, learning scenarios and a list of study strategies. The results show that misconceptions about effective study strategies are widespread by novice teachers and suggests that they are unaware of several specific strategies that could benefit student learning and retention. While popular but less effective strategies such as highlighting and summarising were commonly named by them in open-ended questions, this was not the case for proven effective strategies (e.g., studying worked-out examples, interleaving, and using multi-modal representations) which were not or hardly mentioned. We conclude that this study adds to the growing literature that it is not only students, but also novice teachers who make suboptimal metacognitive judgments when it comes to study and learning. Explicit instruction in evidence-informed learning strategies should be stressed and included in both teacher professional development programs and initial teacher training.

Abstract Background Extramuralisation in healthcare has influenced medical and nursing curricula internationally with the incorporation of themes related to primary/ community care. Despite this, students do not easily change their career preferences. The hospital is still favourite, leading to labour market shortages in extramural care. This study investigates how baccalaureate nursing students’ perceptions of community care and placement preferences develop over time in a more ‘community-care-oriented’ curriculum, to gain insights on which curriculum elements potentially influence career choices. Methods A nursing student cohort of a University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands (n = 273) underwent a new four-year curriculum containing extended elements of community care. The primary outcome was assessed with the Scale on Community Care Perceptions (SCOPE). Data were collected each year of study. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate students’ placement preferences and perceptions, and linear mixed model techniques (LMMs) for measuring how students’ perceptions develop over time. Patterns of placement preferences at individual level were visualised. Results Students’ perceptions of community care, as measured with SCOPE, show a slight decrease between year 1 and 4, while items mutually differ substantially. In contrast, the preference of community care for a placement increases from 2.6% in year 1 tot 8.2% in year 4. The hospital is favourite in year 1 (79.8%), and remains most popular. At individual level, students often change placement preferences, although a preference for the hospital is more consistent. The LMMs indicates that, at the four time-points, the estimated marginal means of students’ perceptions fluctuate between 6 and 7 (range 1–10). A placement in community care did not positively influence students’ perceptions, and an intensive 1 week theoretical programme was only temporarily influential. Conclusions Although interest for placement in community care increased substantially, it was not clear which curriculum elements stimulated this, nor did the curriculum positively influence students’ perceptions. As most students do not look forward to the high responsibility of the field, other curricula with educational tracks for more mature students/ nurses with a vocational training may be an alternative contribution to solving the labour market problems in community care.

The positive effects of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) on students’ learning outcomes and processes have been widely reported in individual empirical studies and meta-analyses. More specifically, in the meta-analysis by Chen, Wang, Kirschner, and Tsai (2018), the effects were found to be attributed to the three main elements of CSCL including collaborative learning, computer use, extra learning environments/tools or extra supporting strategies. This study extends that meta-analysis by examining the moderating effects of educational level and subject area on the effectiveness of CSCL. The moderating effects of educational level were found not to be significant on the effectiveness of collaborative learning, computer use, extra learning environments or tools, or extra supporting strategies with respect to student knowledge achievement. Subject area, on the other hand, was found to be a significant moderator for the effectiveness of extra learning environments or tools and extra supporting strategies. When using extra learning environments or tools for CSCL, larger effect sizes were found for engineering and science courses; when using extra supporting strategies for CSCL, larger effect sizes were found for science and social science courses. The results also showed that more studies were conducted at the university level and in engineering, science, and social science disciplines.

Abstract Background The shift in healthcare to extramural leads to more patients with complex health problems receiving nursing care at home. However, the interest of baccalaureate nursing students for community nursing is moderate, which contributes to widespread labour-market shortages. This study investigates the effect of a more ‘community-care-oriented’ curriculum on nursing students’ perceptions of community care. Methods A quasi-experimental quantitative survey study with a historic control group (n = 477; study cohorts graduating in 2015, 2016, and 2017; response rate 90%) and an intervention group (n = 170; graduating in 2018; response rate 93%) was performed in nursing students of a University of Applied Sciences in a large city in the Netherlands. The intervention group underwent a new curriculum containing extended elements of community care. The primary outcome was assessed with the Scale on Community Care Perceptions (SCOPE). The control and intervention group were compared on demographics, placement preferences and perceptions with a chi-square or T-test. Multiple regression was used to investigate the effect of the curriculum-redesign on nursing students’ perceptions of community care. Results The comparison between the control and intervention group on students’ perceptions of community care shows no significant differences (mean 6.18 vs 6.21 [range 1–10], respectively), nor does the curriculum-redesign have a positive effect on students’ perceptions F (1,635) = .021, p = .884, R2 = < .001. The comparison on placement preferences also shows no significant differences and confirms the hospital’s popularity (72.7% vs 76.5%, respectively) while community care is less often preferred (9.2% vs 8.2%, respectively). The demographics ‘working in community care’ and ‘belonging to a church/religious group’ appear to be significant predictors of more positive perceptions of community care. Conclusions Graduating students who experienced a more ‘community-care-oriented’ curriculum did not more often prefer community care placement, nor did their perceptions of community care change. Apparently, four years of education and placement experiences have only little impact and students’ perceptions are relatively static. It would be worth a try to conduct a large-scale approach in combination with a carefully thought out strategy, based on and tying in with the language and culture of younger people.

In this interview we asked Paul A. Kirschner about his comments and reflections regarding the idea to apply cognitive psychology-based instructional design principles to mathematics education and some related issues. With a main focus on cognitive psychology, educational psychology, educational technology and instructional design, this internationally well-known scholar reflects on the work conducted within the mathematics education community. This paper presents a summary of the comments and reflections that he expressed during the interview. A first main theme relates to the general idea behind the special issue, i.e. the feasibility of applying cognitive theory-based instructional design principles in the field of mathematics education. Second, the interview related to the set of instructional design principles that were included in the special issue and those that were omitted. Third, reflections are made on the differences between the application of instructional design principles in mathematics education research and in instructional design research more generally. One main idea running through this interview is that, according to Kirschner, mathematics education research is not necessarily a special field in its own, as the variation of instructional goals and of research foci within mathematics education is at least as large as the variation across different content domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While executive functions (EFs) and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy use have been found to be related in several populations, this relationship has not been studied in adult online distance education (ODE). This is surprising as self-regulation, and thus using such strategies, is very important here. In this setting, we studied the relation between basic executive functions (i.e., working memory and shifting, measured with cognitive tests) and reported SRL-strategy use (i.e., management of time and effort, complex and simple cognitive strategy use, contacts with others, and academic thinking) within a correlational design with 889 adult online distance students. In this study, we performed regression analyses and took age and processing speed into consideration, as processing speed and EFs decrease with age, whereas self-regulation is reported to increase with age. Cognitively measured working memory was not related to reported SRL-strategy use in adult ODE students. Thus, even though the SRL-components within the strategies seem to elicit working memory, reported SRL-strategy use is not related to the functioning of this basic EF (measured with cognitive tests). This means that if SRL-strategy use needs to be increased in adult ODE students, training of working memory might not be an effective manner for achieving that goal. Better shifting and processing speed were related to less reported SRL-strategy use, which might suggest that SRL-strategies might be used to compensate for lower shifting (in academic thinking) and lower processing speed (in simple cognitive strategy use and contacts with others). With increasing age, the number of contacts with peers or teachers decreases. This latter finding might be of relevance during the pandemic since contacts with others is importance during lockdown.

Abstract Background The majority of studies investigating associations between physical activity and mental health in adolescents have been cross-sectional in design. Potential associations between physical activity and mental health may be better examined longitudinally as physical activity levels tend to decrease in adolescence. Few studies have investigated these associations longitudinally in adolescents and none by measuring physical activity objectively. Methods A total of 158 Dutch adolescents (mean age 13.6 years, 38.6 % boys, grades 7 and 9 at baseline) participated in this longitudinal study. Physical activity, depressive symptoms and self-esteem were measured at baseline and at the 1-year follow-up. Physical activity was objectively measured with an ActivPAL3™ accelerometer during one full week. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and self-esteem was assessed with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Results were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results Physical activity levels decreased 15.3 % over a 1-year period (p