This editorial paper introduces a special issue presenting thirteen papers investigating the factors related to exceptionally high and low mathematics performance across diverse age groups and educational contexts. Despite the variety of approaches, several consistent findings emerged. One important finding is that early numerical competencies are reliable predictors of later mathematics achievement. While domain-general factors are associated with mathematics performance, their predictive power diminishes when considered together with numerical skills. Additionally, both shared and distinct predictors of low and high attainment have been identified. The studies also highlight substantial heterogeneity within the high- and low-achieving groups. Overall, these findings challenge the idea that differences along the mathematics attainment continuum are purely quantitative. Instead, they support a multidimensional perspective where different pathways underlie low and high performance. These results have important implications for theory, early identification, and targeted interventions, emphasizing the need for approaches that account for both between-group differences and within-group variability.
This study examines reciprocal relations between toddler's numeracy and their language skills in “Germany” (N = 389, M = 31.46 months, SD = 3.34, 52.8% male) across three time points (collected between 2021 and 2023) while controlling for potential influencing factors. Cross-lagged panel models revealed that between ages 2½ and three years numeracy (β = 0.19, p < .010) and general language (β = 0.25, p < .010) development mutually predicted each other and both fostered later mathematical language (β = 0.16–0.18, p < .010). From three to four years, mathematical language predicted numeracy (β = 0.21, p < .050) and general language (β = 0.32, p < .010) development, while numeracy predicted mathematical language development (β = 0.19, p < .010). The results highlight the intertwined yet distinct roles of numeracy and general and math-specific language skills in early development.
This study examined reciprocal relations between university students' academic self-concept (ASC) and behavioral and emotional components of academic procrastination (delay and subjective discomfort). We analyzed data from NT1 = 1406 students from the beginning of one semester to the beginning of the next with a latent cross-lagged panel model (CLPM). We found no reciprocal relations but, nevertheless, interesting medium to large cross-lagged relations. From the beginning to the middle of the semester, delay was positively, and ASC negatively, related to subsequent discomfort. Surprisingly, from the end to the beginning of the next semester, delay related negatively to discomfort. Exploratory multi-group analyses revealed gender differences. For female students, delay at the end of the semester was negatively related to subsequent discomfort. Among male students, ASC and discomfort were negatively related over time. These findings offer valuable insights into potential negative dynamics between ASC and academic procrastination that may affect students' achievement. Educational relevance and implications statement Students' academic self-concept is meaningfully interrelated with their achievement, but before achievement comes into play, students may find themselves in adverse dynamics between their academic self-concept and dysfunctional learning behavior and experiences, which warrant closer examination. In light of this, we took a closer look at the longitudinal relations between academic self-concept and academic procrastination, whereby students delay tasks and experience subjective discomfort (e.g., worry, guilt). Our study shows that a negative academic self-concept and frequent delay are related to more subsequent subjective discomfort. Notably, the longitudinal relations between academic self-concept, delay, and subjective discomfort differed between female and male students, highlighting the importance of considering these gender differences in educational practice. Overall, our findings suggest that promoting students' academic self-concept and functional learning behavior can help prevent subjective discomfort associated with delay.
Based on self-determination theory (SDT), meta-theory of personality (MTP), and social cognitive theory (SCT), scientific motivation (SM) and critical thinking disposition (CTD) may be reciprocally linked, yet longitudinal evidence remains limited. This study used cross-lagged panel network analysis to examine SM-CTD associations among 3898 students across upper elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. The overall network revealed bidirectional relationships between intrinsic motivation and personal relevance (IMPR) and inquisitiveness (INQ), IMPR and self-confidence (SC), and self-efficacy (SE) and SC. Upper elementary networks showed reciprocal links between IMPR and INQ, and between IMPR and SC. Junior high networks retained these and added bidirectional paths between IMPR and analyticity (ANA), and SC and SE. Senior high networks uniquely revealed a reciprocal link between SE and systematicity (SYS). These findings highlight IMPR and SE as potential intervention targets. Furthermore, stage-varying reciprocal relationships suggest that educational interventions should be tailored to specific developmental stages.Educational relevance statement: Understanding the co-development of scientific motivation and critical thinking disposition is vital, as modern educational frameworks increasingly demand the integration of motivational drivers and critical thinking dispositions. While traditional instructional models often assume a unidirectional influence between motivation and critical thinking dispositions, our findings suggest that they function as a mutually reinforcing, bidirectional system. Specifically, we identified intrinsic motivation and personal relevance (IMPR) and scientific self-efficacy (SE) as the core functional hubs driving this co-development. Consequently, rather than dispersing efforts across all cognitive traits, educators may achieve broader impact by focusing interventions on these specific targets. Connecting science curricula to students' real-world experiences (boosting IMPR) and designing achievable inquiry tasks (building SE) can naturally activate other critical thinking dispositions. Importantly, our cross-stage findings indicate that these dynamics are not uniform across age groups. Therefore, interventions should ideally evolve alongside students' development. Such efforts should begin by fostering foundational curiosity and self-confidence in elementary school, build upon this foundation to cultivate analytical thinking in junior high school, and ultimately shift toward systematic reasoning within autonomy-supportive environments in senior high school.
Conceptual understanding plays a vital role in science education. Learning with combined real and virtual experiments can effectively promote students' conceptual understanding. However, the effect of combined versus single experiments has not been quantified for different science subjects yet. Moreover, students of different academic levels possess different levels of experience with the real and the virtual world and interact differently with real and virtual experiments. Additionally, males and females perceive learning with real and virtual experiments differently. In the present meta-analysis, we considered K = 25 articles with N = 41 effect sizes based on 2955 school and university students. Our meta-analysis provides robust evidence that combining real and virtual experiments can significantly enhance students' conceptual understanding in science (ES = 0.71). Our results further reveal that neither academic level nor gender moderated this effect, suggesting that combining real and virtual experiments fosters conceptual understanding independent of these individual differences.
Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills refer to capacities that support social relationships, emotion regulation, and engagement with new experiences. These skills are considered crucial for high school students' academic success and well-being. The present study examined the longitudinal associations between five SEB skill domains (self-management, social engagement, cooperation, innovation, and emotional resilience) and four dimensions of student engagement (affective, behavioral, cognitive, and agentic). A sample of 1555 Italian high school students completed self-report measures of SEB skills and engagement at the beginning (T1), middle (T2), and end (T3) of the academic year. Latent change score modelling showed that student engagement generally declined across the school year, particularly between T1 and T2. However, students with higher levels of self-management, innovation, and social engagement at T1 showed smaller declines in engagement. Overall, these findings suggest that SEB skills help students sustain engagement, especially during the first part of the school year. Educational relevance statement Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills are increasingly recognized as key competencies that foster student engagement in learning and academic activities. Using a comprehensive SEB framework and a three-wave longitudinal design, our study examined whether SEB skills contribute to the maintenance of engagement across the school year. Results indicated that students who reported higher levels of self-management, innovation, and social engagement also experienced smaller decreases in engagement, although the effects varied across engagement dimensions. Overall, these findings highlight the educational value of integrating SEB skills instruction into school curricula. Strengthening these skills may help students sustain engagement throughout the academic year, with potential benefits for academic achievement and well-being.
College students regularly shift time among coursework, employment, and leisure as demands change across a semester. Drawing on situated expectancy-value theory and a multiple-goals framework, we used intensive longitudinal data from an introductory chemistry course (N = 440) to examine how weekly deviations in time use, semester averages, and baseline expectations predicted motivation (competence, interest, importance value, and four costs). Time use was more consistently linked to competence and costs than to interest or importance. Within persons, weeks with more chemistry study than usual predicted higher competence and most costs; more time on other courses or employment predicted higher outside effort and emotional cost, whereas more leisure predicted higher competence and importance. Between persons, consistently higher chemistry time predicted higher interest and higher costs, while greater leisure predicted lower loss of valued alternatives cost. Anticipating heavier workloads predicted higher interest and lower costs.
Data-driven learning (DDL), where learners explore authentic language data (often via corpora or concordancers) to induce patterns, has matured from a niche methodology into a versatile approach supporting language awareness, genre literacy, and disciplinary communication. Yet outcomes of DDL are notably variable: Some learners thrive in discovery-oriented environments, while others experience cognitive overload, frustration, or superficial pattern matching. We can see rather clearly from the papers in this collection and published research elsewhere how research and theory on learner individual differences (IDs) shape engagement with and benefits from DDL, including language proficiency, metalinguistic awareness, cognitive abilities (working memory, attention control), learning preferences, affective factors (motivation, anxiety, tolerance of ambiguity), self-regulation, and digital/corpus literacy. We would like to propose an integrative framework linking IDs to DDL task demands, tool affordances, and instructional design choices. We conclude with pedagogical principles for adaptive DDL, offering strategies for differentiation, scaffolding, and assessment, and outlining future research directions for robust, equity-minded implementation in diverse educational contexts.
Gamification has become a prominent approach in educational research and practice, yet its effectiveness remains inconsistent and insufficiently understood. This Special Issue addresses key gaps by advancing a more differentiated perspective on gamified learning, focusing on heterogeneity in design, adaptivity, and individual learner differences. The Special Issue is structured around three interconnected themes: personalized gamification, competition-based gamification with leaderboards, and gamification in young learners. Across these areas, the studies highlight that effects of gamification are context-dependent and often driven by complex interactions between design features and learner characteristics. While personalization offers promising opportunities, its implementation remains challenging and requires grounding in theories. Leaderboards, despite their popularity, emerge as potentially problematic for certain learners. Research on young learners underscores the importance of developmental and contextual considerations. Overall, the contributions emphasize the need for rigorous, theory-driven research that moves beyond average effects toward understanding for whom and under which conditions gamification works.
A total of 425 students from a private university in Santiago and a public university in the Araucania region participated in an online study during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, 411 provided complete demographic data for group comparisons. Participants were categorized by parental education (first-generation vs. continuinggeneration), cohort (first-year vs. fourth-year), and gender. The effect of university type (public vs. private) was also examined. Creativity was assessed using a digital figural task, in which participants designed tourism posters, and two verbal tasks: a remote associates test and an alternative uses test. Daydreaming frequency, positive and negative mind wandering, and the five facets of mindfulness were assessed to examine their interrelationships and control for their influence. Regression analyses indicated that Frequency of Daydreaming and the Nonreactivity facet of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire were positively associated with performance on the remote associates test and originality on the alternative uses test. In contrast, both positive and negative mind wandering predicted lower scores on the remote associates test. Multivariate analyses revealed significant cohort effects: fourth-year students outperformed first-year students on all verbal creativity measures. Gender differences emerged in verbal fluency (favoring women) and figural originality (favoring men). Although parental education alone did not significantly influence creative performance, differences in verbal creativity scores between students at public and private universities underscore the need for further research on how socioeconomic factors and institutional contexts shape creative outcomes. Educational relevance and implications statement: The study highlights the importance of understanding how universities foster and assess creativity among diverse student populations in Latin America. Specifically, the study underlines the need to assess students' creative strengths and weaknesses throughout their undergraduate education. Institutions should not only integrate creativity into their curricula but also monitor its development over time so that they can provide constructive feedback to students on the development of their creative potential. Implementing sound creativity assessments attuned to different disciplines and that account for diverse educational backgrounds is essential to achieving this goal. Research on creativity in higher education also raises important questions about whether creativity measures should be incorporated into university admissions. Clarifying the influence of social factors on creative performance is crucial for informed decision-making in this area. A deeper understanding of their influence will support the development of evidence-based assessments that recognize diverse forms of creative potential and promote equity in access to higher education.
This study examines how gendered family practices influence children's reading performance in rural China. Using three waves of panel data from 3486 primary school students, we apply two-way fixed effects models to examine gender differences in reading achievement while accounting for time-invariant unobserved factors. Results show that girls outperform boys across multiple reading outcomes throughout the observation period. We further find that parental reading attitudes and literacy-related investments differ by child gender and are positively associated with children's reading outcomes, partly accounting for observed gender differences. These associations persist over time, though the magnitude of change remains modest. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that gendered patterns in family attitudes and investments are more pronounced among families with lower socioeconomic status. The findings suggest that family beliefs and practices are systematically associated with gender differences in reading development, underscoring the importance of home literacy environments in understanding literacy disparities in resource-constrained rural settings. Educational relevance and implications This study highlights that gendered patterns in family attitudes and literacy-related practices are systematically associated with children's reading development, suggesting that home environments represent an important, though partial, context for understanding gender differences in literacy outcomes. From a policy perspective, these findings indicate that efforts to promote gender equity in reading may benefit from complementing school-based initiatives with programs that support parents in fostering inclusive and supportive reading environments at home. In rural settings, where families often play a central role in children's learning, providing guidance on reading practices may be particularly relevant for supporting boys' engagement with reading. At the same time, the modest explanatory power of family-level mechanisms underscores the need for coordinated approaches that also consider school practices and broader institutional contexts, especially for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged households.
Background Argumentative competencies are key in secondary school. Feedback can foster competence development, but effects on performance and motivation vary widely across students. Students' feedback receptivity and perceptions are presumed to explain this heterogeneity; however, empirical evidence for automated feedback is lacking. Aims We investigated how students' receptivity to feedback related to revision performance and interest change during an argumentative writing task, and whether students' usefulness perceptions of the given feedback mediated the relationship. Methods and results 1507 secondary school students wrote an argumentative text, received automated feedback, and revised their texts. We found direct effects for dimensions of receptivity on students' revision performance and changes in situational interest. The effect on situational interest was mediated by students' perceptions of feedback. Conclusions Our findings provide evidence for the importance of considering both students' general receptivity and situational perceptions of feedback in explaining heterogeneity in automated feedback effects. Educational relevance statement The study shows that students' general attitudes towards feedback and their usual engagement with feedback (i.e., their receptivity) are related to how they perceive specific feedback messages about their writing, how much they benefit from feedback, and how their interest in the writing task changes after receiving feedback. For schools, the results suggest that encouraging students' general receptivity to feedback may be a valuable goal alongside providing high-quality feedback.
Non-calculus-ready students experience persistent challenges acclimating to and succeeding in core engineering curricula as well as difficulties employing effective strategies during problem-solving. Grounded in a model of engineering metacognition, we implemented a course-embedded metacognitive reflection intervention designed to promote first-semester pre-engineering students' metacognitive monitoring and reflection during problemsolving activities integrating applied mathematics. We analyzed students' performance and metacognitive monitoring accuracy during problem-solving at the end of the course and their grades obtained in common mathematics coursework at the end of the subsequent semester. Using Bayesian analysis of covariance, students completing the intervention demonstrated higher scores on an applied assessment of problem-solving and were more accurate in their metacognitive monitoring during problem-solving. Completion of the intervention was anecdotally associated with end-of-year mathematics achievement. We demonstrate the potential of courseembedded metacognitive reflection interventions to improve problem-solving and metacognitive skills and possibly redress challenges with mathematics in pre-engineering curricula. Educational relevance and implications statement: Problem-solving has been identified as an important and understudied career skill across a range of STEM contexts. In this work, we examine a domain-based, course-embedded intervention that combined framing and utility reflection activities with distributed metacognitive monitoring practice. The intervention was designed to foster monitoring of problem-solving in an applied engineering course. Evidence suggested the intervention was associated with more accurate monitoring and performance during problem-solving among first-year pre-engineering students who traditionally struggle with engineering curricula. Our findings support implications for the design of course interventions to promote knowledge and regulation of cognition in foundational engineering curricula more broadly, and in engineering problem-solving more specifically.
Improving adolescents' sustained online learning engagement is critical, yet the specific pathways remain unclear. To address this gap, this study conducted two studies to explore how growth mindsets promote online learning engagement among adolescents, specifically examining the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of teacher support. Study 1 employed a cross-sectional survey design (middle school students, N = 920), utilizing structural equation modeling and machine learning. Results indicated that growth mindsets predicted online learning, mediated by psychological resilience and moderated by perceived teacher support; psychological resilience was identified as the strongest predictor in random forest analysis. Study 2 adopted a longitudinal experimental design (7th-grade students, N = 214), implementing both growth mindsets and teacher support interventions. Results indicated that the growth mindset intervention effectively enhanced adolescents' online learning engagement, with effects being maximized when combined with teacher support. These findings provide practical insights for the designing of online learning interventions.
Gender disparities in Computational Thinking (CT) are well-documented, yet few meta-analyses examine how males and females respond differently to educational interventions. This three-level meta-analysis synthesized 37 studies (62 effect sizes) for females and 35 studies (56 effect sizes) for males to explore gender-specific patterns in CT education programs. Results show significant overall effects for both females (g = 0.867) and males (g = 0.807), confirming the effectiveness of CT education across genders within the reviewed studies. However, moderator analyses reveal that males demonstrated consistent gains across educational levels, assessment tools, and learning outcomes, while females showed more variation. Females improved most in CT performance and attitudes, but showed limited gains in self-efficacy and self-perceptions. Pedagogical approaches such as unplugged activities, robotics, and project-based learning were effective for both genders. The findings also suggest a need for age-appropriate and culturally relevant pedagogies, particularly for girls in primary and secondary education. While this meta-analysis provides practical implications for future program development, it also highlights the need for broader research across diverse sociocultural and technological environments to better understand and address the complex dynamics of gender in CT education.
Emotion regulation is crucial for managing academic failures. Little research has explored adolescents' emotion regulation strategy profiles and their correlates at school. Through a person-centered approach, we identified profiles based on four emotion regulation strategies (self-blame, catastrophizing, positive reappraisal, and positive refocusing) and examined their predictors (gender, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement) and outcomes (test anxiety, academic buoyancy, and later achievement). We involved 535 British students in Year 12 (Mage = 16.40 years, 71% girls). A subsample of them (n = 318, 74% girls) was also involved in Year 13. Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: low self-blame and catastrophizing, balanced average strategy use, high positive reappraisal and positive refocusing, and high self-blame and catastrophizing. The latter profile was more common among girls and associated with higher test anxiety and lower buoyancy. Despite limitations, these findings inform interventions to enhance school-related emotion regulation by considering individual differences. Educational relevance statement This study revealed that adolescent students could be clustered into different profiles based on the ways they used to regulate the emotions resulting from academic failures. Members of a profile marked by high self-blame and catastrophizing were predominantly female and showed elevated levels of test anxiety along with limited ability to cope with everyday school-related stressors. These findings underscore the importance of implementing interventions in schools to promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies.
This study investigated individual differences in students' metacognitive knowledge development in mathematics. Conditional metacognitive knowledge of 1050 German students (40% female, MAge = 10.97) was assessed at the beginning and end of grade 5, and at the end of grade 6. Initial intelligence was examined as a predictor of later metacognitive knowledge development while controlling for students' initial mathematics knowledge, math-related motivation, gender, and class-type (i.e. regular vs. gifted classes). Latent growth curve analysis revealed a general increase but also high variability in metacognitive knowledge development. Intelligence was associated with greater increases in metacognitive knowledge over time (β = 0.32), suggesting that higher intelligence accelerates metacognitive knowledge development. Additionally, girls demonstrated a greater increase in metacognitive knowledge than boys over time. Math knowledge, motivational variables, and class-type were not associated with metacognitive knowledge development. These findings highlight the variability in metacognitive knowledge development and underscore intelligence as an important predictor of this differential development.
This study examined the interplay between family socioeconomic status (SES) and parenting behaviors on the developmental trajectory of working memory (WM) from kindergarten to the fifth grade. Using latent growth modeling with data on 15,437 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11(ECLS-K:2011), we revealed that higher SES was associated with better initial WM, slower WM growth rate, and hysteretic deceleration in WM development. Cognitive stimulation moderated the association between SES and WM development. Parental warmth and spanking did not moderate the association between SES and WM development. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive stimulation in buffering the adverse impacts of low SES on WM development. The findings have implications for the design of interventions to foster cognitive competence in children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
