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Education and Learning

Education and Learning Research Group

The research expertise of our Education and Learning Research Group is broadly situated in educational psychology, but with some insights drawn from cognitive science and neuroscience. We have specific expertise in the psychology of learning emotions, self-beliefs and motivation, and how these relate to academic attainment. Much of our research is done in partnership with secondary schools, particularly in relation to understanding how to support GCSE pupils and educational practitioners to thrive in their learning and performance in high-stakes exams.

Members

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Featured projects

We should just be told to try our best

Dr Laura Nicholson and colleagues provide an overview of exam anxiety, its effects and what psychologists can do to help reduce it.

See Dr Laura Nicholson’s research

GCSEs: what to say and what to avoid if you want to help teenagers combat exam anxiety

Dr Laura Nicholson explores what messages are most effective when communicating with teenagers about high stakes exams

Read the full article on The Conversation

Stressed out: the psychological effects of tests on primary school children

Dr Laura Nicholson discusses the stress and pressure about forthcoming exams and how it can result in what education researchers have termed “test anxiety”.

Read the full article on The Conversation

Threats of failure motivate some students – but it’s not a technique to use on the whole class

Dr Laura Nicholson outlines the importance of recognising differences in students when motivating them towards examinations

How can challenging your beliefs make you feel more confident?

Dr Laura Nicholson shares how to use the ABC Model to change the way you prepare for exams.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses

Members of our Education and Learning Research group run CPD short courses for educational professionals, to support them to apply evidence-based psychology to educational practice.

Get involved

There are various ways you can get involved in our Education and Learning research

Contact

If you would like to find out more about our Education and Learning Research group, please get in touch with the group coordinator

Dr Emma Sumner