Category: Effective Teaching Approach

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Effective Teaching Approach K-12 Education Programme Evaluation

Equity in Teacher Education Programs: Conceptions and Program-Level Efforts

Ko-Wong (2025) conducts a systematic review to examine how teacher education programs (TEPs) in the United States conceptualize, implement, and prioritize equity. Drawing on 58 empirical studies that met rigorous inclusion criteria, the review synthesizes program-level equity efforts across coursework, field placements, recruitment strategies, faculty development, and structural reforms. The analysis highlights substantial conceptual ambiguity: many programs invoke equity rhetorically while relying on race-evasive framings, thin interpretations of fairness, or narrow emphases on access and achievement. Few studies explicitly address Whiteness, racism, power, or meritocracy—core constructs in critical equity frameworks.

Using an adapted strong-equity lens, the review finds that most TEPs focus on surface-level or fragmented activities, such as required multicultural courses or isolated field experiences, which often lack coherence and long-term impact. Although coursework and community-based placements can support preservice teachers’ awareness of diverse learners, evidence suggests that these efforts frequently fall short of transforming candidates’ racial literacy or challenging institutional hierarchies. Only a limited subset of programs adopt more systemic approaches that integrate equity across curricula, partnerships, supervision, and program structures.

The findings underscore the persistent gap between equity rhetoric and equity enactment in teacher preparation. Ko-Wong argues that meaningful progress requires programs to name and confront systemic racism, destabilize dominant ideologies such as color-evasiveness and meritocracy, and reimagine TEPs as sites of structural change rather than individual skill development. The review concludes with recommendations for advancing strong equity through conceptual clarity, coherent program design, and deeper engagement with racial justice frameworks.

Source (Open Access): Ko-Wong, L. (2025). Equity in Teacher Education Programs: A Systematic Review of Conceptions and Program-Level Efforts. Review of Educational Research, 00346543251382579.

https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543251382579… Read the rest

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Effective Teaching Approach Higher Education

From Empathy to Quality Long-Term Care: A Generative AI-Based Art Therapy Approach

Chang et al. (2025) explore the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into art therapy in nursing education, aiming to enhance students’ empathy and performance in gerontological care. Traditional art therapy courses often engaged students in drawings to foster their empathy and understanding of elderly nursing. However, such approaches have been criticized for their limited effectiveness, as many students lack interest in artwork or confidence in drawing. To address this problem, the authors developed a generative AI-based art therapy approach grounded in the self-directed learning (SDL) model, including three SDL phases: self-management, self-monitoring, and motivation.

The study adopted a quasi-experimental design over three weeks with 65 nursing students enrolled in a gerontological nursing course. Participants were divided into either an experiment group (n = 33) or a control group (n = 32). The experiment group was guided to set learning goals and plans (self-management), use ChatGPT to create artworks and reflect on their progress (self-monitoring), and connect personal experiences and emotions with elder care to foster empathy (motivation). In contrast, the control group received traditional technology-based art therapy instruction. The Instruments included a validated empathy questionnaire and an art therapy performance rubric covering five dimensions: expression, emotional depth, use of color, symbolic meaning, and creativity to evaluate participants’ outcomes.

Findings indicated that the experiment group demonstrated significantly higher empathy scores than the control group (η2 = 0.196). They also outperformed their peers in the control group in art therapy performance, particularly in expression (d = 0.79), use of color (d = 0.81), symbolic meaning (d = 0.91), and creativity (d = 0.51). Epistemic network analysis (ENA) further highlighted stronger connections between expressive and symbolic dimensions in the experiment group’s artworks.

Overall, the study provides evidence that generative AI tools, when combined with SDL strategies, can foster both cognitive and affective growth among nursing students. By supporting empathy development and enhancing creative performance, this innovative approach contributes to preparing future nursing professionals for the challenges of long-term care in aging societies.

 

Source (Open Access): Chang, C. Y., Wang, P. L., Li, C. J., & Hwang, G. J. (2025). From empathy to quality long-term care: a generative AI-based art therapy approach based on the self-directed learning model. Interactive Learning Environments, 33(5), 3333-3353.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2024.2443072… Read the rest

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Effective Teaching Approach Kindergarten

Educational Robotics and Kindergarteners’ 4Cs Development

A recent meta-analysis by Sapounidis and colleagues examined the effects of Educational Robotics (ER) on the development of kindergarteners’ twenty-first century skills, namely communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. From an initial pool of 2141 records, 22 empirical studies met inclusion criteria, yielding 53 effect sizes based on 2192 participants across 12 countries.

The authors applied a random-effects model, which revealed a significant overall positive impact of ER (Hedge’s g = +0.87). When analyzed separately, the strongest effect was observed for collaboration (g = 2.14), followed by critical thinking (g = 0.86), communication (g = 0.55), and creativity (g = 0.51). Despite notable heterogeneity (I² > 79% across domains) and some publication bias, the results consistently indicated that robotics-based interventions may enhance young learners’ social and cognitive capacities. A meta-regression further showed that longer intervention durations were associated with stronger positive effects, highlighting the importance of sustained engagement with robotics activities.

The findings suggest that ER is particularly powerful in promoting collaborative and critical thinking skills, where children engage in teamwork, problem-solving, and reasoning activities with peers and robots. Communication can also be supported by encouraging idea sharing, while creativity—though less studied—emerges as an area of potential growth if adequately scaffolded.

This study fills a critical gap in early childhood education research, as previous meta-analyses often overlooked kindergarten populations or mixed them with higher age groups. The authors recommend developing tailored robotics curricula and teacher training programs to maximize ER’s benefits. Overall, ER appears to be a promising educational tool for fostering holistic skill development in early childhood.

Source (Open Access): Sapounidis, T., Rapti, S., & Vaiopoulou, J. (2025). Effects of educational robotics on kindergarteners’ collaboration, communication, critical Thinking, and creativity: A meta-analysis. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 34, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-024-10149-1… Read the rest

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Effective Teaching Approach K-12 Education

The learning styles paradox: Persistent appeal despite unsupported evidence

A puzzling paradox exists in education: even though many studies show that aligning teaching methods to students’ preferred learning styles (e.g., visual or auditory) has little impact on learning achievement, learning styles persistently emerge in educational discourse and research. A recent review that synthesized evidence from 17 meta-analyses explored why learning styles repeatedly resurface and provided an explanation for their persistent appeal.

The review identified a critical distinction between two sets of meta-analyses: (1) matching meta-analyses, which tested if matching teaching methods with students’ learning styles improved learning outcomes, and (2) correlational studies, which examined the relationship between students’ learning styles and learning outcomes. Results showed that the matching studies yielded a very small effect size (d = +0.04), providing evidence for the minimal benefit of aligning teaching methods with students’ learning styles. Moreover, while correlational meta-analyses looking at effects on student achievement produced an average correlation of r = +0.24, these correlations did not clarify causality or the direction of effects. In addition, across both sets of meta-analyses, the broad and inconsistent usage of learning styles blurred the line between learning styles and learning preferences or strategies.

The authors discussed that instead of simply relying on learning styles, effective teaching should focus on adaptable, evidence-based strategies that support learning. Students learn most effectively when they develop cognitive and metacognitive strategies suited to specific task demands, rather than relying on their preferred learning styles.

 

Source (Open Access): Hattie, J., & O’Leary, T. (2025). Learning styles, preferences, or strategies? An explanation for the resurgence of styles across many meta-analyses. Educational Psychology Review, 37(2), 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10002-w… Read the rest

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Educational Administration and Leadership Effective Teaching Approach Secondary School Education

Leveraging AI to predict young learners’ online learning engagement

With many schools rushing to adopt Generative AI, it is important to consider the real learning gains (or lack thereof) that these tools offer. A 2023 study by Pardos & Bhandari examined the use of AI-generated hints as a scaffolding mechanism with Algebra students.

Seventy-seven participants (high school graduates selected via Amazon’s MTURK system) were assigned to a control group (which provided human-generated hints) or an experimental group (which provided AI-generated hints). The researchers wanted to learn the rate of “low quality” AI-generated hints, as well as if the hints produced learning gains compared to the control group. The questions from the lesson were fed, verbatim, to ChatGPT in order to generate the hints. Quality checks were performed manually to ensure that all AI-generated hints were correct and showed the proper steps. This was then contrasted with the control group, whose hints were generated by undergraduate tutors. Pre and post tests were administered to check for learning gains between the two groups.

The results showed that 70% of the hints generated by ChatGPT were considered to be good quality, and that there was a statistically significant learning gain in the control group. A major limitation of the study is that the researchers did not prompt the AI to use any scaffolding strategies. Therefore, the quality of the hints between groups not only differed by human or AI creator, but also by pedagogical theory. Human tutors were probably more likely to employ Vygotsky-esque scaffolds, while ChatGPT was more likely to provide an immediate answer. Future work could improve upon the prompts used in this study and create a multi-tiered approach with less consequential hints being revealed at first.

 

Source (Open Access): Pardos, Z. A., & Bhandari, S. (2023). Learning gain differences between ChatGPT and human tutor generated algebra hints (No. arXiv:2302.06871). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2302.06871… Read the rest

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Achievement Effective Teaching Approach Higher Education

Learning from deliberate errors: A new teaching strategy

Recent research by Qiang, Ma, and Li challenges traditional beliefs about avoiding errors in education by demonstrating that deliberately making errors can significantly enhance learning outcomes. The researchers conducted three experiments with non-psychology undergraduate students (aged 18-25) from Northwest Normal University in China. Participants were required to study definitions of psychological concepts and perform recall tests. They were randomly assigned to one of three learning conditions:

  1. Deliberate errors: Students intentionally generated plausible errors while studying psychological concepts and then corrected them (e.g., “Memory is the physiological [psychological] process of accumulating …”).
  2. Retrieval practice: Students studied material and then attempted to recall it from memory.
  3. Restudy: Students repeatedly read, copied the material and underlined key information.

Experiment 1 assessed immediate recall of psychological concept definitions with 161 participants. Experiment 2 examined delayed testing (one week later) using the same learning approaches with 162 participants. Experiment 3 combined both immediate and delayed testing and enhanced the retrieval practice condition by adding feedback and an additional learning opportunity, involving 149 participants.

The results consistently showed that deliberate errors and retrieval practice yielded similar results in immediate testing, both outperforming restudy. However, in delayed testing, deliberate errors significantly outperformed retrieval practice with and without feedback, and both strategies outperformed restudy.

The findings suggest that deliberate errors are particularly effective for long-term retention. When students deliberately generate plausible errors before correction, they engage in deeper cognitive processing, form unique memory trace, and enhance the discriminability of knowledge. Despite these clear benefits, students consistently underestimated the effectiveness of deliberate errors, suggesting a metacognitive illusion that teachers need to address.

 

Source: Qiang, X., Ma, X., & Li, T. (2025). Learning from errors: Deliberate errors enhance learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 82, 102379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102379… Read the rest