Sofie M. M. Loyens

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Utrecht University

Using the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), the research explores whether moves attributed to male versus female players are evaluated differently and investigates how increased cognitive load moderates these biases. Experienced chess players rated the quality of mid-game chess moves attributed to either male or female players. Each move was accompan...

Critical thinking is essential when navigating, evaluating, and interacting with media; therefore, it is important to investigate if adults’ critical thinking skills can be trained. This paper describes an experiment investigating the impact of video lectures about enthymemes and critical thinking skills on participants’ (N = 176) critical thinking...

In this meta-analysis, we examined the effects on students’ motivation of student-centered, problem-driven learning methods compared to teacher-centered/lecture-based learning. Specifically, we considered problem-based (PBL), project-based (PjBL), and case-based learning (CBL). We viewed motivation as a multifaceted construct consisting of students...

Student-centered educational approaches are increasingly being implemented in undergraduate institutions. With the rising number of students and lack of resources, institutions need to gather students in large classes. This study investigated the implementation and adjustment of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) with large student groups. Professionals...

Critical thinking (CT) is widely regarded as an important competence to obtain in education. Students’ exposure to problems and collaboration have been proven helpful in promoting CT processes. These elements are present in student-centered instructional environments such as problem-based and project-based learning (P(j)BL). Next to CT, also higher...

The present chapter provides conceptual clarity on four different student-centered approaches commonly found in the research literature. Inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, and case-based learning are successively discussed. Each of the instructional approaches is discussed in the light of the factors that Barrow...

This study aimed to explore undergraduates’ perceptions of relevance in conjunction with two associated constructs, personal interest, and task value. To unearth these perceptions, American (n = 104) and Dutch (n = 79) students completed the Conceptualization of Relevance Task (CoRT). This task required them to: (a) select a graphic that best repre...

Relaties tussen studenten en hun opleiding spelen een belangrijke rol in het hoger onderwijs. Studenten ontwikkelen zich in die periode immers tot jonge professionals die na het behalen van hun diploma de arbeidsmarkt betreden. In dit artikel worden de belangrijkste inzichten over een proefschrift over relatiekwaliteit in het hoger onderwijs gepres...

We investigated the effects of active workstations on cognitive control functions in individuals diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In a fully counterbalanced randomized control design, we examined the effects of cycling on a desk bike on phonological working memory (WM) in 18 adolescents with ADHD. Adolescents performe...

In het Hoger Onderwijs verwachten we van studenten dat ze hun eigen leerproces kunnen aansturen en vanuit zichzelf gemotiveerd zijn om te studeren. Met andere woorden, we verwachten autonome motivatie van studenten. Zowel in theorie als praktijk blijft het een belangrijk vraagstuk hoe deze autonome motivatie kan worden gestimuleerd. Met een serie v...

Background To date, studies that have investigated the bonds between students and their institution have emphasized the importance of student–staff relationships. Measuring the quality of those relationships (i.e., relationship quality) appears to help with investigating the relational ties students have with their higher education institutions. Gr...

Supportive relationships between students and their educational faculty and staff can foster positive outcomes such as students’ involvement and development. However, research investigating how students perceive the quality of their relationships with educational faculty/staff (i.e., relationship quality) so far remains scarce. This study’s aim was...

Formative assessment can be seen as an integral part of teaching and learning, as formative assessment affects students’ learning and vice versa. Students’ motivation can theoretically be placed at the centre of this reciprocal relationship, as formative assessment is assumed to affect students’ need satisfaction of autonomy, competence and related...

In the present study, we compared the mindset of preuniversity students and (primary and secondary) vocational students. Participants comprised of 173 students attending preuniversity education and 101 students attending vocational education. All participants completed a mindset questionnaire. We expected, based on previous educational experiences,...

The present study investigates the effects of different kinds of praise on 108 students in vocational education, using a similar design as the original mindset studies. Students worked on a set of Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices and either received praise for effort, received praise for intelligence, or were in the control group. Results were...

Student-teacher relationships in higher education take place in two embedded social contexts: the in-class environment and the educational institute in which the in-class environment is situated. The interplay between the two contexts and their association with students’ motivation was studied in the current study. In a broad sample (N=597), percep...

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered instructional method, with roots in constructivist theory of learning. Since its origin at McMaster University in Canada, PBL has been implemented in numerous programs across many domains and many educational levels worldwide. In PBL, small groups of 10–12 students learn in the context of meaningfu...

This study's aim was to investigate a hypothesized model examining the associations between students' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their educational faculty and staff (i.e., relationship quality) and students' involvement. The relationship quality measurement included students' experiences with all educational faculty and s...

Alumni can be of enormous value for higher education institutions because of the time and money they can spend on their former institution. Going beyond prior research that has as yet mostly considered alumni giving, this study focuses on exploring drivers for non-monetary alumni behavior (i.e., alumni loyalty). Modeling analysis was conducted on 1...

Background: Although active workstations, such as desk bikes, have proven to be beneficial for health, there is limited information regarding their effects on children's acute cognitive performance during self-paced exercise. Methods: This study used a within-subjects, fully counterbalanced design with a sample of 38 preadolescent children (mean...

This chapter discusses the types of process models that have been applied in problem‐based learning (PBL). Especially, in higher education, an important distinction is made between process models emphasizing procedural knowledge acquisition (i.e., PBL as simulation of professional practice) and process models emphasizing declarative knowledge acqui...

Mindset plays a pivotal role in academic achievement. In particular, a growth mindset is related to academic success. This study explored the role of mindset in Secondary Vocational Education and Training (VET). Participants were 1005 VET students attending eight different vocational programmes on three qualification levels in the rural southwest o...

The effectiveness of a mindset intervention in secondary vocational education and training was investigated. Students (n = 55) enrolled in a mathematics course participated in an online mindset intervention for a period of 10 weeks. Both pretest and posttest scores on mindset and mathematics results were compared with students who did not get a min...

Engaging in regular physical activity can have substantial cognitive and academic benefits for children, and is generally promoted for its beneficial effects on children’s physical and mental health. Although embodied cognition research has convincingly shown the integral relationship of the human body and mind, in schools physical activity and cog...

In this study, a mixed-method design was employed to investigate the association between a student-centred, problem-based learning (PBL) method and law students’ motivation. Self-determination theory (SDT) states that autonomous motivation, which is associated with higher academic performance, can be reached when there is fulfillment of three psych...

With problem-based learning (PBL) now a widely advocated instructional approach in higher educa- tion, empirical evidence about PBL’s potential to foster student learning is crucial. The present paper presents results from a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This project followed the objective...

An earlier version of this paper contained incorrect tables due to a publication error. Tables have now been corrected.

Beliefs about knowledge have been found to relate to a variety of student outcomes and to vary across educational domains and instructional contexts. However, there are limited data on students’ beliefs about information and truth, vis-à-vis knowledge (i.e., epistemic beliefs) and how these beliefs differ across instructional settings. Undergraduat...

This study investigated whether cycling on a desk bike would foster sustained attention in a lecture setting. This was measured by effects on retention, task experience (e.g. self-reported attention) and affect (i.e. happiness and energy). Participants were 122 students, who watched a two-part video lecture and made the associated retention tests a...

Need-supportive teaching is believed to increase students’ motivation and achievement. This assumption was tested in a higher education sample from a Dutch university of applied sciences (N = 623). Configurations of students’ perceptions of autonomy support, structure, and involvement were explored using cluster analysis to establish the relationsh...

This study investigated the overall quality of the interpersonal relationship students have with faculty and staff, that is, relationship quality (RQ). In relationship management research, RQ is paramount for the creation of bonds with customers, which in turn is necessary for the sustainability of organizations, that is, continuity and growth. In...

A few years ago, the Erasmus School of Law implemented problem-based learning (PBL) as an instructional method in the bachelor’s program. Transition to a PBL program often brings some difficulties for the teaching staff. To find out whether the implementation at the Erasmus School of Law has been successful, students and teachers were asked about t...

2 Samenvatting Student-gecentreerde leeromgevingen, zoals probleemgestuurd onderwijs (PGO), project-gestuurd onderwijs (PjGO) en casusgericht leren (CGL) worden vaak geïntroduceerd om de motivatie van leerlingen en studenten te verhogen. Het hoofddoel van deze overzichtsstudie is om te onderzoeken of deze instructiemethoden inderdaad een positief e...

Example-based learning is a very effective and efficient instructional strategy for novices. It can be implemented using text-based worked examples that provide a written demonstration of how to perform a task, or (video) modelling examples in which an instructor (the ‘model’) provides a demonstration. The model-observer similarity (MOS) hypothesis...

In problem-based learning (PBL), implemented worldwide, students learn by discussing professionally relevant problems enhancing application and integration of knowledge, which is assumed to encourage students towards a deep learning approach in which students are intrinsically interested and try to understand what is being studied. This review inve...

This study investigated the accuracy of 14 university teachers’ judgments. Early in the first year, university teachers rated the chance each university student in their group would successfully complete their first year as well as the entire bachelor’s program. Results show that university teachers’ chance ratings were predictive of actual academi...

Reporting the results of three papers on the model-observer similarity hypothesis.

In educational theory, deep processing (i.e., connecting different study topics together) and self-regulation (i.e., taking control over one’s own learning process) are considered effective learning strategies. These learning strategies can be influenced by the learning environment. Problem-based learning (PBL), a student-centered educational metho...

Two experiments investigated whether studying a text with an explanation intention and then actually explaining it to (fictitious) other students in writing, would yield the same benefits as previously found for explaining on video. Experiment 1 had participants first studying a text either with the intention to explain it to others or to complete...

Online learning from video modeling examples, in which a human model demonstrates and explains how to perform a learning task, is an effective instructional method that is increasingly used nowadays. However, model characteristics such as gender tend to differ across videos, and the model-observer similarity hypothesis suggests that such characteri...

It was investigated whether task-related body movements yield beneficial effects on children’s learning of two-digit numbers and whether these learning effects are affected by mirror-based self-observation of those movements. Participants were 118 first-graders, who were randomly assigned to two movement conditions and two non-movement control cond...

We investigated whether problem-based learning (PBL) can foster conceptual change. Students were randomly assigned to a PBL, lecture-based, or self-study group, all receiving instruction about the topic of Newtonian laws. Conceptual change was measured from pre- to immediate post-test (directly after instruction) and from immediate post-test to del...

This study investigated the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention in a controlled experiment in a lab setting. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students were randomly assigned to either a PBL condition, a lecture condition, or a self-study condition. All participants had the opportunity to study...

Research has demonstrated that physical activity involving gross motor activities can lead to better cognitive functioning and higher academic achievement scores. In addition, research within the theoretical framework of embodied cognition has shown that embodying knowledge through the use of more subtle motor activities, such as task-relevant gest...

In problem-based learning students are responsible for their own learning process, which becomes evident when they must act independently, for example, when selecting literature resources for individual study. It is a matter of debate whether it is better to have students select their own literature resources or to present them with a list of manda...

Problem-based learning (PBL) requires students to formulate learning issues that need to be answered by studying multiple literature resources. Advocates of high instructional guidance argue that this is too cognitively demanding for students and ineffective for learning. Therefore, we examined the effects of studying an integrated model answer in...

Example-based learning is an effective instructional strategy for students with low prior knowledge, and is increasingly being used in online learning environments. However, examples can take many different forms and little is known about whether and how form affects learning outcomes. Therefore, this study investigated whether worked examples and...

Two experiments investigated whether acting as a peer model for a video-based modeling example, which entails studying a text with the intention to explain it to others and then actually explaining it on video, would foster learning and transfer. In both experiments, novices were instructed to study a text, either with the intention of being able t...

This study examines whether tutors (N = 15) in a problem-based learning curriculum were able to predict students' success in their first year and their entire bachelor programme. Tutors were asked to rate each student in their tutorial group in terms of the chance that this student would successfully finish their first year and the entire bachelor...

Two studies investigated the importance of initial topic interest (i.e., expectation of interest) and tutors’ autonomy-supportive or controlling instructional styles for students’ motivation and performance in problem-based learning (PBL). In Study 1 (N = 93, a lab experiment), each student participated in a simulated group discussion in which tuto...

In the Netherlands, university programs increasingly use the binding study advice (BSA) to select students after the first year. Students with insufficient progress after the first year and who therefore do not conform to pre-defined BSA norms have to quit their program. This study investigated whether the introduction of the BSA is associated with...

Conventional continuing medical education (CME) has been shown to have modest effects on doctor performance. New educational approaches based on the review of routine practices have brought better results. Little is known about factors that affect the outcomes of these approaches, especially in middle-income countries. This study aimed to investiga...

Problem-based learning (PBL) represents a major development in higher educational practice and is believed to promote deep learning in students. However, empirical findings on the promotion of deep learning in PBL remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships between students’ approaches to learning (SAL) and acad...

This study investigated the simultaneous impact of demographic, personality, intelligence, and (prior) study performance factors on students' academic achievement in a three-year academic problem-based psychology program. Information regarding students' gender, age, nationality, pre-university education, high school grades, Big Five personality tra...

Observationeel leren, dat wil zeggen, leren door te kijken naar het goede voorbeeld van anderen, is een natuurlijke manier van leren die jonge kinderen spontaan gebruiken. Alles zelf door eigen ervaring moeten leren zou niet alleen zeer tijdrovend maar vaak ook gevaarlijk zijn. Gelukkig kunnen we leren van het goede voorbeeld van anderen. Observati...

This study examines the effects of two learning environments (i.e., problem-based learning [PBL] versus lecture-based [LB] environments) on undergraduates’ study motivation. Survey results demonstrated that PBL students scored higher on competence but did not differ from LB students on autonomous motivation. Analyses of focus groups further indicat...

plagiarize:" ''to steal and pass off as one's own (the ideas or words of another) : use (a created production) without crediting the source. '': to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source." (Merriam Webster Incorporated., 1993). ''plagiarism: ''1. The action or practice of taking someone...

Constructivist views of learning have brought conceptions of learning to attention again. Conceptions are considered important determinants of effective learning. Students can differ in their conceptions depending on their educational experience. The present study investigated students' conceptions of constructivist learning. Do students with great...

This study investigated the role of self-directed learning (SDL) in problem-based learning (PBL) and examined how SDL relates to self-regulated learning (SRL). First, it is explained how SDL is implemented in PBL environments. Similarities between SDL and SRL are highlighted. However, both concepts differ on important aspects. SDL includes an addit...

The idea to organize a special issue on the effects of constructivist learning environments originated at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago. We organized a symposium on this topic, which was attended by a large audience and received many positive reactions. Therefore, we came up with the plan to tra...

The present study investigated relationships between students’ conceptions of constructivist learning on the one hand, and their regulation and processing strategies on the other hand. Students in a constructivist, problem-based learning curriculum were questioned about their conceptions of knowledge construction and self-regulated learning, as wel...

This study investigated the impact of students' conceptions of constructivist learning activities on academic achievement and drop-out. Although constructivism represents an influential view of learning, studies investigating how students conceptualize this perspective have not been conducted before. A structural equation modelling approach was ado...

The present studies were conducted to investigate students' conceptions of distinct constructivist assumptions. To that end, a questionnaire was developed containing statements about four constructivist assumptions: The importance of knowledge construction, cooperative learning, self-regulation, and the use of authentic problems together with self-...

Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006)14. Kirschner , P. A. , Sweller , J. and Clark , R. E. 2006. Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist., 41: 75–86. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science...

Summary in German Thesis (doctoral)--Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, 2007.

This study investigated students' conceptions of constructivist learning activities in a problem-based learning (PBL) and a traditional curriculum. We examined whether students who have chosen for a problem-based curriculum have different conceptions of constructivist assumptions compared to students who have chosen to be enrolled in a traditional,...

Many aspects of the problem-based learning cycle aim at stimulating students to elaborate on their knowledge. This elaborative process is considered to be one of the most effective study aids for learning and applying information. One of the opportunities to stimulate this elaboration process is by offering students more, and more diverse, learning...

To investigate the role of biomedical and diagnostic inferences in clinical reasoning of advanced medical students and experienced family physicians using a lexical decision task. In 2002, 15 family physicians and 20 fourth-year medical students at Maastricht University medical school in The Netherlands were instructed to carefully study 60 short c...

ZAPs are short, self-contained computer programs that encourage students to experience psychological phenomena in a vivid, self-explanatory way, and that are meant to evoke enthousiasm about psychological topics. ZAPs were designed according to principles that originate from experiential and discovery learning theories. The interactive approach tha...

Previous studies on the development of medical expertise, predominantly using measures of free recall and pathophysiological explanations, have shown ambiguous results concerning the relationship between expertise level and encapsulated knowledge. To investigate differences in clinical case representations by medical students and family doctors. In...

Medical specialists, diagnosing cases within their domain of expertise, do not rely on intentional causal reasoning, in which they use explicit principles or rules of their domain. Rather, their reasoning has become an automatic process using schema-based knowledge. However, the difference between diagnoses made by medical specialists and diagnoses...

Het ZAP-project heeft als doel om computer gebaseerd leermateriaal te ontwikkelen voor gebruik in inleidend psychologieonderwijs. Door middel van ervaringen, experimenten, of ontdekkingstaken worden psychologische fenomenen inzichtelijk gemaakt. De lesmodules (‘ZAPs’) die worden ontwikkeld zijn interactief, kort, eenvoudig en concreet. De behandeld...