@pepsmccrea.bsky.social
Keeping you (teachers) informed // Director of Education, Steplab // Author of Evidence Snacks, a weekly 5-min email read by 25k+ teachers → https://snacks.pepsmccrea.com 🎓
If you like these and want the best papers EVERY WEEK, then sign up to Evidence Snacks:
→ snacks.pepsmccrea.com
16/ Study comparing subtitling vs dubbing in learning
→ finds that subtitling greatly boosts language skills, especially listening and speaking.
www.nber.org/system/file...
FIN
15/ Overview of findings of studies on student mental effort and self-regulation
→ explores how motivation, task design, and strategy support shape how effort is judged and used.
link.springer.com/article/10....
14/ Study comparing overt (talking/writing) vs covert (thinking) retrieval
→ finds that overt works better for complex info, while covert is faster but less thorough.
link.springer.com/article/10....
13/ Study tracking over 100k EAL students in Aus schools
→ suggests that most need 6+ years of support to learn English alongside curriculum.
www.edresearch.edu.au/research/re...
12/ Study exploring how tech use affects learning
→ finds that relying on AI tools weakens memory and deep understanding.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers...
11/ Study examining how peers influence learning goals
→ suggests both cooperation and competition positively boost students’ drive to improve.
bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111...
10/ Study using random test centre assignment in high-stakes exams
→ finds testing away from home school lowers scores and deepens inequality.
edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1220
9/ Report tracking teachers after maternity leave
→ finds those returning part-time stay longer, suggesting flexible work helps keep teachers.
static1.squarespace.com/static/63db...
8/ Study testing the “counting days” revision strategy
→ suggests it encourages spaced study and improves overall exam performance.
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
7/ Study examining how the internet affects creativity
→ suggests it boosts individual output but undermines group originality by encouraging convergence.
link.springer.com/article/10....
6/ Review on movement in learning
→ finds that gestures, pointing, and physical activity can boost learning (but only when not misaligned or redundant).
link.springer.com/article/10....
5/ Review of studies on drawing to learn
→ finds it helps most when tasks are well-designed and tests match the drawing style.
link.springer.com/article/10....
4/ Study on air quality & learning
→ finds small pollution increases raise absences, bad behaviour, and teacher sick days, hitting poorer kids hardest.
www.nber.org/papers/w33549
3/ Study on using scrap paper to solve math(s) problems
→ finds that offloading boosts performance, especially with stronger prior knowledge.
bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10...
2/ Longitudinal study of ‘teaching to the test’
→ finds increased TTT before exams may (in contrast to common views) actually boost intrinsic motivation, importance, and utility
www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...
1/ Review of RCTs on growth mindset in schools
→ finds strongest studies show near-zero impact, so large-scale investment may not be warranted
bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002...
🔥 16 hottest education related research papers from the last 8 weeks:
(all open source 🔓)
↓
SUMMARY
• Effective planning requires lots of expertise and time.
• Composite planning (vs solo planning) can be more effective, efficient, and equitable.
• Intellectual preparation (adapting a plan for our class) is an essential component of this.
👊
🎓 For more, check out this think piece on the importance of a more composite approach, by Robert Pondiscio:
www.aei.org/research-pr...
When we put these 3 layer together, we significantly increase our potential for improving student learning/equity and reducing teacher workload.
Serious things.
3/ Intellectual preparation at individual level
(to adapt and ensure relevant expertise is front of teacher mind).
2/ Drawing on high quality resources developed at central level
(built with time and expertise, eg. Oak National or great textbooks).
Composite planning includes 3 layers:
1/ Group planning at departmental level
(including collective decision making, the sharing out of tasks, and quality assurance).
This work of 'intellectual preparation' is hugely important (and where our thirst for teacher autonomy should be directed)… fortunately, the economics of composite planning create even more time for it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKT...
But, it's not quite so simple:
What we teach might be similar between classrooms, but who we teach (and their knowledge) varies a lot.
And materials or guides created by someone else still need to be adapted for our own students.
Rough calcs:
→ 4 teachers sharing out their planning can achieve double the original quality in half the original time
→ 16 teachers can achieve 4x the quality in a quarter of the time
→ And so on
By contrast, composite planning can reduce workload for teachers, and boost learning and equity for students.
At its heart are the economics of scale & specialisation:
When we collaborate—distributing our time and expertise—we can achieve more.
Every driver ends up with a different set of wheels, not all of which are optimal quality, despite costing a lot.
Under pressure and lacking support, many teachers end up using poor quality resources found on the internet:
fordhaminstitute.org/national/re...
When we set things up in ways that encourage teachers to solo plan, we are essentially pushing ourselves to re-invent the wheel, in a fraction of the time required to create the ideal design, while leaning on our varying levels of expertise.
06.07.2025 18:00 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
