Understanding the cognitive cost of multimedia learning: effects of visual load and language proficiency - Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications Multimedia learning environments require learners to process and integrate information across visual and auditory modalities, often under conditions of limited cognitive capacity. In this study, we examined how visual load (defined as the number of images accompanying audio narration) and individual differences in language proficiency, sustained attention, and working memory influence learning outcomes in international university students. In two experiments (N = 61, M = 21.2 years), we examined how different visual loads affected memory recall. In Experiment 1, participants viewed narrated slides that included varying numbers of images, specifically from 0 to 3 images, and then completed an immediate recall task. In Experiment 2, we compared recall performance for audio-only vs. audio-and-picture information across two visual load conditions (1 vs. 3 images). Results showed that increasing visual support enhanced the learning of audio-and-picture information but had no benefit for audio-only content. Additionally, lower English proficiency and reduced attention were associated with poorer recall, especially under higher visual load. These findings support cognitive load theory and highlight how individual cognitive and language abilities can limit effective multimedia learning. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the design of digital instructional materials tailored for diverse learner populations.

New study

Bali et al. (2026) showed that adding relevant visuals to narrated slides can improve recall but offers little benefit for audio-only content.

Check it out using the following open access link:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Why Do Learners (Under)Utilize Interleaving in Learning Confusable Categories? The Role of Metastrategic Knowledge and Utility Value of Distinguishing - Educational Psychology Review Distinguishing easily confusable categories requires learners to detect their predictive differences. Interleaved sequences — switching between categories — help learners to detect such differences. N...

A study by Abel et al. investigated the underutilisation of interleaving when studying categories that are easily confused. It showed that informing learners that this process requires the detection of differences encouraged their use of interleaving. Full article: doi.org/10.1007/s106...

🌟Our research group @learningfor5254.bsky.social is presenting an exciting symposium at #GEBF26 at #TUM in #München! Join us for “Toward Lasting Learning? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Generative Learning, Retrieval Practice, and Interleaving”.

#LastingLearning #DFG #FOR5254 #EduSky

Does text generation improve learning from expository text? A conceptual replication attempt - Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications The aim of the present study was to test the replicability of the text generation effect for learning with expository texts while systematically varying contextual factors that—based on extant literat...

Schindler and Richter (2025) tested in seven experiments whether generating text (unscrambling sentences) enhances learning from expository texts but found no reliable generation effect—learners sometimes even performed worse than in a reading control condition.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A study by Klimovich et al. revealed that participants read less mindlessly after metacognitive training. No change in comprehension performance was seen in the metacognitive condition, but it declined in the control condition.
Read the full Article: doi.org/10.1037/edu0...

A study by Danzglock et al. found that benefits of interleaved practice depend on learners’ prior knowledge: interleaving was more effective with higher prior knowledge, whereas blocked practice was more effective with lower prior knowledge. 🧠
Read the full article: doi.org/10.31234/osf...

Interleaved practice in physics benefits from collaboration Interleaved practice is a desirable difficulty that has been suggested to promote deeper conceptual understanding. However, its effectiveness appears …

Insightful study
Abel et al. (2024) show that learners underutilize interleaving because they undervalue distinguishing categories and lack knowledge that detecting differences is essential; highlighting both factors increases use.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Rivers et al. (2026) found that both overt (typed) and covert (mentally generated) prequestions improved test performance, with no reliable differences between the two formats. This finding suggest that covert prequestioning is a time-efficient strategy to support comprehension.

Using a multiverse analysis, Weissgerber et al. aimed to replicate the study by Lehmann et al. (2016): they found no disfluency benefit, even not for learners with higher working memory capacity (i.e., no Disfluency x WM interaction effect). Article: doi.org/10.1016/j.li...

Interleaved practice helps conceptual understanding, but a study by Danzglock et al. (as part of our lasting learning DFG FOR 5254) shows it alone is ineffective with complex material. Combining interleaved practice with collaboration leads to learning gains.
🔐 Article: doi.org/10.1016/j.le...

Schweppe et al. from DFG FOR 5254 show that students learn better from an expository text when they (unsuccessfully) attempt to answer questions beforehand, compared with reading learning objectives or just reading the text without a pre-instructional activity.
🧠 Article: doi.org/10.1037/xap0...

The Forward Effect of Judgements of Learning on Memory and Transfer in Inductive Learning - Educational Psychology Review Making judgments of learning (JOLs) can directly affect learning outcomes. The present study investigated whether providing JOLs during inductive learning tasks improves learning of new material (forw...

Ritter et al. show that Judgements of Learning (JOLs) can boost future learning, especially when based on partial information. They promote future learning and transfer to new content by triggering covert retrieval processes, independent of feedback.
Congratulations!👏
➡️ doi.org/10.1007/s106...

Applying retrieval and distributed practices to enhance student learning and achievement in a university course | Advances in Physiology Education | American Physiological Society Among the “desirable difficulty” (DD) strategies developed by cognitive scientists, retrieval practice and distributed practice are two of the most robust and advantageous. This study evaluated a three-component intervention to enhance student learning that consisted of instruction about the advantages of retrieval and distributed practices, encouragement of independent application of these methods, and the use of pop quizzes to facilitate retrieval and foster distributed studying. Student exam scores were compared in two sections of a university sports nutrition course that differed in only one experimentally relevant way: one received the three-component intervention (DD Strategy Group), whereas the other did not (Control Group). During the DD Strategy Group’s first class meeting, the instructor gave the students a 30-minute tutorial in which he introduced retrieval and distributed practices and then summarized the evidence demonstrating the learning advantages of each. The DD Strategy Group also completed 10 pop retrieval quizzes during the semester, each of which consisted of three to five short-answer questions and took roughly 10 min to complete. A multivariate ANOVA with follow up t tests revealed that the DD Strategy Group outscored the Control Group on course exam 1 (t45 = 2.50, P = 0.02, d = 0.8), exam 2 (t45 = 3.35, P < 0.001, d = 1.0), exam 3 (t45 = 4.38, P < 0.001, d = 1.3), and exam 4 (t45 = 4.33, P < 0.001, d = 1.3). In summary, the DD Strategy improved exam performance by nearly 16%, making it a practical and effective way to enhance student learning. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A three-component strategy that included educating students about the counterintuitive benefits of retrieval and distributed practices, encouraging independent application of these methods, and utilizing pop quizzes to facilitate retrieval and foster distributed studying habits resulted in significant increases in student exam performance in a university course.

Dobson (2025) showed that teaching students to use retrieval and distributed practice – plus adding pop quizzes – led to big gains in a university course. 🧠 The intervention improved exam scores by about 16%, proving “desirable difficulties” work. #EduSky
➡️ doi.org/10.1152/adva...

How note-taking and note-using affects the benefit of interleaving over blocking - Memory & Cognition Interleaving items from different categories is often better for learning than blocking items by category, but research on the interleaving effect has neglected situations in which people can take not...

Little et al. (2025) found that interleaving enhanced learning compared to blocking when learners did not take notes; this advantage was reduced when notes were taken but unavailable at test and eliminated when learners could take notes and use them during test.📝
link.springer.com/article/10.3...

New article:

Gonçalves et al. (2025) found that retrieval practice gives a small but reliable learning advantage over elaborative strategies overall (g = 0.14), but this benefit depends on conditions.

Check it out using the following open access link:

link.springer.com/content/pdf/...

New study from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social members.

Pan et al. (2025) found that answering ChatGPT-generated prequestions before reading boosts later memory and comprehension of the text.

Check it out using the following open access link:
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

Do differences in topic knowledge matter? An experimental investigation into topic knowledge as a possible moderator of the testing effect A large body of research indicates that testing results in better long-term retention compared to restudying. Given the relevance of such effects for education, there is interest in the conditions ...

Macaluso & Fraundorf (2025) examined whether topic knowledge influences the testing effect. Contrary to past research, testing improved memory only when feedback was given. Prior knowledge aided learning but didn’t change the testing advantage. #EduSky

➡️ doi.org/10.1080/0965...

Without Integration, Everything Is Nothing: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Instructional Support for Drawing-to-Learn - Educational Psychology Review Generative drawing, or drawing-to-learn, has been studied as an effective learning strategy primarily used in science learning. However, drawing can be cognitively demanding, requiring instructional s...

In a meta-analysis, Leutner and Biele (2025) from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social research group found that
instructional support for drawing-to-learn boosts comprehension only when it facilitates integration between verbal and pictorial representations. #EduSky #FOR5254
➡️ doi.org/10.1007/s106...

New study:
Ingendahl & Undorf (2025) found that making immediate judgments of learning (JOLs) changes how people study, boosting memory for related word pairs but harming memory for unrelated ones.

Check it out using the following open access link:
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

Breaking Down Text Complexity: The Impact of Element Interactivity on Text Comprehension Beyond Readability and Cohesion | Request PDF Request PDF | Breaking Down Text Complexity: The Impact of Element Interactivity on Text Comprehension Beyond Readability and Cohesion | Text complexity, an important factor of text-based learning, is...

Lenk-Blochowitz et al. (2025) show that text complexity isn’t just about readability or cohesion—systematically increasing element interactivity (i.e., how many ideas must be held in mind at once) impairs comprehension and raises perceived cognitive load.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Modality Matters: Evidence for the Benefits of Speech‐Based Adaptive Retrieval Practice in Learners with Dyslexia Developmental dyslexia can significantly impact educational achievement. This study shows that dyslexia-related disadvantages in the memorization of vocabulary are modality-specific: processing textu....

Wilschut et al. (2025) show that response modality shapes learning. In retrieval practice, learners with dyslexia performed worse when typing but caught up when speaking. 🗣️
The issue lies in typing delays, not memory ability. #EduSky

➡️https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12769

Practice testing enhances learning but not attitude change from persuasive texts - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Practice testing enhances learning but not attitude change from persuasive texts

New study

Galeano Weber et al. (2025) found that practice testing—both pretesting (guessing before reading) and posttesting (retrieving after reading)—enhanced factual learning from persuasive texts 🧠 but did not increase attitude change.

Check it out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

von Aufschnaiter et al. (2025) showed that inconsistent arrow representations in mechanics diagrams can confuse learners and hinder understanding of motion and force concepts.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Nemeth et al. (2025) from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social research group found that tailoring study sequences to individual confusion patterns did not outperform random interleaving, suggesting that adaptivity may not provide additional benefits. #EduSky #FOR5254
▶️ doi.org/10.1016/j.li...

Frequent Testing vs. Second-chance Testing: An Exploration | Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V.1

Herman et al. (2025) compared frequent testing with second-chance testing on learning. They found no difference in final exam performance but frequent testing led to better first attempts and students felt more stressed in the less frequent testing group. 📚
doi.org/10.1145/3702...

Fiorella, Capobianco, and Jaeger (2025) found that explaining or drawing boosts comprehension only when learners translate across formats but these benefits didn’t extend to transfer, suggesting that generative activities alone may not foster deep application without added support.
lnkd.in/e5mP_Dx2

How does interest in a course interact with course learning? The present study modeled how students' interest in a course of study changes and how those changes fit into their broader course experiences.The pres…

Fryer et al. (2025) found that postgraduate students’ initial and growing course interest strongly predicted post-course self-efficacy and domain interest, while higher prior knowledge was linked to lower initial course interest and less growth.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Entwurf eines Interessenmodells für die Naturwissenschaften Im Beitrag wird ein Entwurf eines Interessenmodells f&#252;r die Naturwissenschaften vorgestellt, das sich auf zentrale Aspekte von Interesse als I) zeitlich stabile Disposition (Voraussetzung f&#252;...

New Study from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social members:

Von Aufschnaiter, Endres, and Petermann (2025) proposed a model conceptualizing science interest as an interaction of stable dispositions, situational processes, and long-term development 🔬.

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Laursen and Fiacconi (2025) demonstrated that perceptual learning can influence JOLs for new material, even when prior learning occurred 24 hours earlier. Fluency derived from previous experience can bias metacognitive evaluations, leading to overconfidence in memory. doi.org/10.1037/cep0...