"Asked whether we still need a federal research agency given the Trump administration’s emphasis on returning education to the states, Northern answers yes. Her reasoning is twofold. Many states, she says, lack the capacity to conduct rigorous research on their own." www.aei.org/education/th...

"What’s driving me crazy, then, is not the idea that AI exists or that people are using AI. It’s that I have a finite time on this earth that I mostly want to spend interacting with other human beings. I don’t want to be the person arguing with a robot...." (1/2)

This article is a Rorschach test. I encourage us to challenge ourselves. What do these students tell us that we didn't expect? For me: too often I assume students have sufficient time for school when in fact life stressors force them to make hard choices about necessary shortcuts in their learning.

An individual's growth mindset, on its own, may only predict so much. I'm more interested in "seed & soil" approaches to mindsets, and peers certainly make up part of the "soil." Large, international sample suggests individual and peers' mindset, and their interaction, predict academic resilience.

#GenAI learning entrepreneurs are strongly advised to read the first chapter of this handbook, wherein Mayer and Fiorella trace the sad history of technology-centered ed tech innovations and provide a roadmap for more successful innovation focused on learner-centered approaches. It's a gold mine.

What is a psychological theory? Here's our take on this tricky and controversial question in this week's Experimentology chapter summary. Many things called "theories" in psychology aren't actually theories — they're frameworks. 🧵 experimentology.io

Just wrapped up final edits on a final chapter draft on expertise and self-regulated learning in the forthcoming Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance (3rd) edition. Written with the fantastic Erianne Allen! Can't wait to see this published!

#GenAI learning entrepreneurs are strongly advised to read the first chapter of this handbook, wherein Mayer and Fiorella trace the sad history of technology-centered ed tech innovations and provide a roadmap for more successful innovation focused on learner-centered approaches. It's a gold mine.

This article strikes me as both important and also a moral panic. Let's start with this quote: "But the deeper transformation was not simply psychological. It was cultural and cognitive. As social life migrated onto platforms optimized for engagement, visibility, and emotional reaction,..." (1/n)

Icarus called. He wants his wings back.

This article strikes me as both important and also a moral panic. Let's start with this quote: "But the deeper transformation was not simply psychological. It was cultural and cognitive. As social life migrated onto platforms optimized for engagement, visibility, and emotional reaction,..." (1/n)

This article is clearly some flavor of rage bait, but (after I stopped sighing at the tone and the contradictions in the argument) it did make me think. www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/dear-... So as one of those lazy, technologically-impaired, boring professors, here's some thoughts. 🧵

I've sat w/this article for a few days and I remain shaken by it. I trust the analysis. Its implications have me reconsidering my priors about US higher ed institutions being battleships that are hard to push off-course. I hope there's the will to agree upon (new) productive goals for US higher ed.

Tuition is flat, enrollment and graduation rates are stable or up, outcomes are generally good, most students feel comfortable expressing their views on campus. Political control is intense and science is under threat. The centrist account of higher ed doesn’t have the story right.

“There is a huge difference between knowledge and information, and these asinine people have taught our population that all of knowledge can be reduced to the status of information…” This. Software won’t eat the world. We still need humans who can think. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/o...

Perhaps #GenAI isn't simply a "normal technology" but also a "normal information source" - meaning it is no oracle, no producer of truth, but rather a provider of information that must be vetted, like any other.

There has been a LOT of research on misinformation over the last decade. In a new paper (for Annual Review of Psychology), @dgrand.bsky.social and I attempt to distill the key points of consensus, highlight major disagreements, and point to future directions. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Critical thinking is a slippery concept. Seemingly easy to define until you actually try. This article traces the history of attempts to define critical thinking, and how they span individual and sociocultural perspectives. Important questions about how to teach it, also. doi.org/10.3102/0034...

Ever wonder what it's like to edit a journal? Well, the fabulous Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia and I talked about that in this "very special" episode of "Emerging Research in Educational Psychology" hosted by Tim Urban. Check it out here or wherever you get your podcasts. soundcloud.com/user-8836504...

“A few years later, though, Twitter looks less like a product you can clone and more like a moment in time. The mass audience has now moved fully to video; the personal audience now lives in the group chat. Professionals are getting their information from newsletters and podcasts.” 😭

“People can live in suspended terror for only so long. Empowerment won’t fix the mess we’re in. Women know it now. They’re mad as hell. Anyone trying to sell them advice instead of a way to use that anger to build a better world for women deserves to be fired.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/o...

2023 data for annual STICKER price at U.S. Colleges. Upper-bound on cost paid by students (because it does not consider aid and grants)

I fear much of the “GenAI is going to change everything!” discourse is marketing hype. But the code vulnerability detection capabilities seem legit. www.macrumors.com/2026/05/14/m...

Mini-solitary-research-retreat-mode activated. First stop: the impeccable Asali Cafe.

This: "Miller and Vee, an associate professor of English and faculty liaison for AI enablement for Pitt Digital at the University of Pittsburgh, also said that critical thinking is hard to define and measure, which complicates the narrative about AI’s impact." (1/2) www.chronicle.com/newsletter/t...

Normally I don't share preprints. But this is a REALLY important preprint. If you're developing #GenAI tools for learning, you need to read this article right away. And I wish the big players in #GenAI would read it also. It would make their products better for learning. arxiv.org/abs/2605.04816

I'm not an expert in education policy or testing, so I won't comment on the substance of this article. I'm just proud to work at @uncschoolofed.bsky.social with experts in the potential causes discussed including absenteeism, the science of reading, & technology use. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/u...

Informative episode. I liked the discussion of jobs as bundles of tasks and how even if #GenAI can 9/10 tasks, that last one requires a human and that human’s worth increases exponentially. Has implications for what we teach and learn. www.theringer.com/podcasts/pla... by

I'm pleased to see articles like this one, and others I've posted recently (e.g., availability to learn, multiple goal regulation) deeply engage with the idea that students' engagement in learning is not siloed from the other factors, good and bad, in their life. #PsychSciSky #AcademicSky #EduSky

I'm pleased to see rigorous investigations of motivation as situated within context and task. This meta-analysis makes a case for even more work in this area, with a particular focus on utility-value interventions tailored to the specifics of the task and the learner. dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0...

I'm pleased to see rigorous investigations of motivation as situated within context and task. This meta-analysis makes a case for even more work in this area, with a particular focus on utility-value interventions tailored to the specifics of the task and the learner. dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0...

Radical optionality is an intriguing idea. Governments could prepare for the worst and implement oversight now, without slamming on the breaks - yet. importai.substack.com/p/import-ai-...

“ROI is going to be a concern when [institutions] are rushing to solutions without first defining the problem they’re trying to solve,” strategist Brian Fleming, a former university administrator, told Inside Higher Ed. Yup. Ed tech solutions are hard. (1/2) www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

I enjoyed this article on satisficing. I do this a lot, including when I’m writing. I can easily obsess over a word or phrase, trying to hone it to perfection. In those moments, I think about the time cost, then choose the best option, and move on. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/o...

Some days are tough. But some days you find out someone who really deserves something got that thing, and then that really great day makes the tough days easier. (And no, it wasn’t me who got the thing.).

I bet someone could design a cool nature of science lesson about the attached article and how science is responsive to evidence. And how to frame science communication in ways that communicate best current evidence while also acknowledging the limits of that evidence. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A clear gap in "#GenAI for learning" applications is a failure to understand scaffolding and the role of digital prompts in promoting not just knowledge but also agency internalization. This article has a helpful framework for bridging this gap. #GenAI companies would learn much from this article.

This website visualizes social media as a room with 100 people 3 people are producing most toxic content Most people assume 43 are producing toxic content, because these 3 are hyperactive and amplified by engagement based algorithms. The other 97 quiet voices disappear thenoisyroom.com

Welp, goodness knows I'm even less fun to be around when I can't get at least a brisk walk in during the morning.

I'm a fan of "Six-Chart Sunday" and this one on "Why AI Regulations Are Likely" is particularly good. #GenAI companies have made a misstep by over-claiming their potential for disruption, and it is beginning to backfire. brucemehlman.substack.com/p/six-chart-...

Stop. Hammock time.

Great to have a fellow Terp @courtneyhattan.bsky.social at graduation! Sportin’ the distinctive UMD apparel! #feartheturtle

Graduation is always such a great day! Excited to see @robertplumley.bsky.social walk across the stage and be hooded by me and @mattbernacki.bsky.social

Interesting discussion in this podcast toward the 10min-left mark where they discuss how modern media and social media are incentivized to activate people's emotions. I've found that often, also. It's why I pay for the news I track, now. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

“Most Chinese policymakers don’t believe A.I. superintelligence is arriving any time soon. Instead, the Chinese strategy is about advancing a government-directed strategy referred to as “A.I.+” that treats A.I. as if it were infrastructure.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/o...

Interesting article about arguments that social media, texting, etc. are evolutionary mismatches with humans. My take-away: these arguments are pretty weak or over-simplified. I think we need to look to other arguments/evidence to resolve questions about modern tech effects. doi.org/10.1037/rev0...

It's pretty simple. Profit motives aside, most companies start out creating products to help users achieve their goals. With time, some companies change, making you into a product to achieve the companies' goals. When that happens, it's time to leave. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

Interesting article about arguments that social media, texting, etc. are evolutionary mismatches with humans. My take-away: these arguments are pretty weak or over-simplified. I think we need to look to other arguments/evidence to resolve questions about modern tech effects. doi.org/10.1037/rev0...

"This is why it’s crucial for the scientific community to work together around our internal differences. That will require discomfort for everyone, but failing to form a coalition that fights for science together is a sure way to make the attacks on science from the outside more effective."

It seems clear there are important connections between personality research and motivation with implications for education research. I'm super excited this paper, which explores those connections, is in our forthcoming topical collection in Educational Psychology Review! #PsychSciSky #EduSky