The research themes addressed by our research group can be divided into the focus areas (A) Metacognitive Judgments of Learners, (B) Practicing, (C) Desirable Difficulties in Learning, and (D) Interplay Between Knowledge Construction and Knowledge Consolidation. The age range in which we are interested spans the entire school and university trajectory.
Our research within this focus area concerns the causes of inaccurate metacognitive judgments of learners (e.g., regarding the state of their own knowledge or the quality of the solutions they have produced) and possible approaches to foster learners’ metacognitive judgment accuracy. In this context, we investigate, among other things, the effects of providing standards, rubrics, and prompts that propose specific indicators to guide the formation of metacognitive judgments. Examples of publications related to this line of research include:
Froese, L., & Roelle, J. (2024). How to support self-assessment through standards in dissimilar-solution-tasks. Learning and Instruction, 94, Article 101998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101998
Krebs, R., Rothstein, B., & Roelle, J. (2022). Rubrics enhance accuracy and reduce cognitive load in self-assessment. Metacognition and Learning, 17, 627–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-022-09302-1
Waldeyer, J., Endres, T., Roelle, J., Baars, M., & Renkl, A. (2024). How to optimize self-assessment accuracy in cognitive skill acquisition when learning from worked examples. Educational Psychology Review, 36, Article 103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09944-4
Our research within this focus area concerns the working mechanisms and effects of practice approaches aimed at maintaining conceptual understanding and factual knowledge. In this context, we investigate, among other things, the formats of practice quizzing and successive relearning. Examples of publications related to this line of research include:
Heitmann, S., Obergassel, N., Fries, S., Grund, A., Berthold, K., & Roelle, J. (2021). Adaptive practice quizzing in a university lecture: A pre-registered field experiment. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10, 603–620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.07.008
Obergassel, N., Heitmann, S., Grund, A., Fries, S., Berthold, K., & Roelle, J. (2025). Adaptation of quizzing in learning psychology concepts. Learning and Instruction, 95, Article 102028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102028
Roelle, J., & Richter, T. (2025). Üben aus lernpsychologischer Sicht: Wie kann Üben das nachhaltige Lernen fördern? [Practice from the perspective of the psychology of learning: How can practice promote lasting learning?]. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 53, 179–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-025-00227-7
Our research within this focus area concerns the effectiveness and boundary conditions of desirable difficulties (i.e., learning activities that feel effortful to learners compared to “conventional” learning activities and are perceived as impeding their progress, yet in fact stimulate processes conducive to learning and ultimately yield benefits for learning outcomes) in school-based learning. In this context, we investigate, among other things, the desirable difficulties of retrieval practice, distributed practice, and interleaved practice. Examples of publications related to this line of research include:
Abel, R., de Bruin, A., Onan, E., & Roelle, J. (2024). Why do learners (under)utilize interleaving in learning confusable categories? The role of metastrategic knowledge and utility value of distinguishing. Educational Psychology Review, 36, Article 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09902-0
Ruitenburg, S. K., Ackermans, K., Kirschner, P. A., Jarodzka, H., & Camp, G. (2025). After initial acquisition, problem-solving leads to better long-term performance than example study, even for complex tasks. Learning and Instruction, 95, Article 102027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102027
Ruitenburg, S. K., Guldemont, P., Kirschner, P. A., Jarodzka, H., & Camp, G. (2025). Initial practice performance moderates the distributed practice effect in complex procedural knowledge. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 39(1), Article e70032. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70032
Our research within this focus area concerns the effectiveness of combining learning tasks – or components of learning tasks – that aim either at knowledge construction through generative learning or at knowledge consolidation through retrieval practice. In this context, we investigate, among other things, the effects of (a) sequencing these types of learning tasks (or task components) and (b) integrating both types of task components within a single learning task. Examples of publications related to this line of research include:
Kim, S., Abel, R., Leutner, D., Schmiemann, P., & Roelle, J. (2025). Can the effects of generative drawing on lasting learning be optimized through integration of retrieval practice? Learning and Instruction, 98, Article 102143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102143
Obergassel, N., Renkl, A., Endres, T., Nückles, M., Carpenter, S. K., & Roelle, J. (2025). Combining generative tasks and retrieval tasks. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117, 980–997. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000949
Roelle, J., Endres, T., Abel, R., Obergassel, N., Nückles, M., & Renkl, A. (2023). Happy together? On the relationship between research on retrieval practice and generative learning using the case of follow-up learning tasks. Educational Psychology Review, 35, Article 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09810-9
