Repeated problem-based learning (PBL) sessions are intended to sustain active, collaborative, and self-directed learning, yet evidence is mixed as to whether familiar PBL routines consistently maintain an appropriate level of learner activation over time. This repeated-measures study examined whether embedding a peer-led examination simulation into regular PBL reshapes psychophysiological and achievement-emotional state profiles. Forty-two medical students were assessed during resting reference, regular PBL, and PBL with peer-led examination simulation. Heart rate variability (HRV) was quantified using RMSSD, SDNN, pNN50, and LF/HF, alongside anxiety, perceived stress, achievement emotions, motivation, self-rated performance, and post-session appraisal. Both PBL formats reduced HRV relative to rest, indicating autonomic activation during regular PBL itself. Compared with regular PBL, examination simulation produced additional HRV withdrawal, higher anxiety and perceived stress, and lower boredom. Baseline-adjusted mixed models supported effects for RMSSD and SDNN; pNN50 did not survive false-discovery-rate correction, and LF/HF showed no robust effect. Enjoyment, motivation, and self-rated performance did not differ significantly. Students reported greater perceived benefit from and stronger preference for the simulation format. Peer-led examination simulation thus shifted PBL toward a more salient, assessment-like psychophysiological and emotional state profile.
Constructive alignment—coherence among learning goals, instruction, and assessment—is essential for effective learning and teaching. Yet existing alignment taxonomies are often overly differentiated, limiting their practical use and coherent integration across studies. By avoiding unnecessary differentiation while preserving validity, we introduce the Constructive Alignment Taxonomy for Learning and Instruction (CATLI), supporting researchers and practitioners in describing and designing learning environments and advancing a common language for research and practice.
Computerised adaptive testing (CAT) has been widely applied in large-scale assessments worldwide. To create a comprehensive action guide, practical evidence should be synthesised. We conducted a pre-registered umbrella review (PROSPERO CRD420251207547) of meta-analyses on the benefits and risks of CAT, incorporating 10 meta-analyses within six reports (sample size range 2830–32,735, sample size median 16,842; searched via PubMed, ProQuest PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science). By combining the effect sizes and conducting a re-meta-analysis, we found that CAT is beneficial for test-takers’ motivation (d = 0.08) and positive emotions (d = 0.13), but it is also associated with increased risk for test-takers’ anxiety (d = 0.08) and lower test scores (median d = −0.08). A quality appraisal was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal of Systematic Reviews and Research Synthesis tool. The present review found the simultaneous presence of increased motivation and anxiety associated with the application of CAT, along with the enriched CAT experience made possible by the prevalence of technology. We suggest that more high-quality meta-analyses should be conducted on the benefits and risks of CAT in a broader context, considering a wider range of application scenarios and more diverse outcome variables.
In animal neurophysiology, motor learning induces long-term potentiation- and depression-like plasticity. In humans, gray matter volume (GMV) changes, measured non-invasively by MRI, in response to motor learning are interpreted as a surrogate measure of plasticity. Here we measure synaptic density with positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the learning-induced synaptic plasticity more directly, and MRI-based GMV to investigate structural plasticity. In this pilot study, twenty-two volunteers participated in a simple or complex (group factor) four-week motor training on a bimanual tracking task. Learning progress was modelled individually. [18F]SynVesT-1 PET and T1-weighted MRI were acquired at baseline (PRE) and immediately after the motor training (POST), and at MID for MRI only (time factor). Average standard uptake value ratios (SUVR), GMV and average cortical thickness in six a priori chosen VOIs of the visuomotor network were statistically compared over time, group and time-by-group, and associated with learning. Participants’ performance improved significantly, and more for the complex than the simple training group. The VOI-based PET and GM analyses did not yield any significant results. In this pilot study, we did not identify significant changes in [18F]SynVesT-1 synaptic density as a surrogate marker for plasticity after motor learning in the a priori chosen VOIs.
Elucidating the neural circuits that govern the selection between passive freezing and active avoidance can provide insights into maladaptive defensive behaviours. One candidate neural substrate is calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus, which process aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) signals and encode threat intensity to promote passive defensive behaviours. Given their role in processing US signals, their disruption may influence active defensive strategies as well, yet whether CGRP neurons contribute to active avoidance remains uninvestigated. In this study, we developed a platform-based active avoidance paradigm that models a naturalistic framework by providing a permanent safe zone to isolate threat-driven actions. Systematic variation of footshock intensity ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 mA revealed that low shock intensities yield weak avoidance acquisition and high-intensity shocks promote excessive freezing that suppresses action, with 0.3 mA providing the optimal window for robust active avoidance expression. Critically, silencing CGRP neurons did not impair associative active avoidance learning. Instead, CGRP disruption inhibited passive freezing and successfully expanded the range of active avoidance to high intensity footshocks. Building on previous evidence that CGRP neurons are required for associative learning in Pavlovian fear conditioning, our findings suggest that their role differs in an operant active avoidance paradigm, where they bias defensive response selection toward passive freezing under high-threat conditions by regulating defensive behavioural output rather than by driving associative learning itself.
