Research beyond AI

New education research that is not about AI: instruction, cognitive science, assessment, teacher efficacy, leadership, edtech, literacy, math, special education and more.

Items come each week from the ERIC database (peer reviewed), the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Administration Quarterly, Teaching and Teacher Education, Learning and Instruction, and arXiv physics education preprints. We add about 40 items a week. Each one gets a Field tag from keyword rules and the same evidence levels as the rest of the tracker, using the same published method. When the abstract is not available yet, the item shows Not yet classified instead of a guess.

A Field tag means the item discusses that area, not that it is good evidence about it. Provisional levels come from fixed rules applied to the abstract and can change after review.

Browse by field

Open all 80 in the tracker

Newest

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Implementing Learning for Social Innovation: A School-Based Case Study of Programme Development (opens in new tab)

2026-10-20 · American Educational Research Journal (SAGE) · Study

When education draws on student and community funds of knowledge to enhance collective wellbeing, young people experiencelearning that matters, applying knowledge and skills to contribute to social good. This case examines the implementation ofAkomanga ...

Why this label for Implementing Learning for Social Innovation: A School-Based Case Study of Progra
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Constructing Choice Sets at the Intersections of Disability, Race, Class, and Geographic Location (opens in new tab)

2026-10-20 · American Educational Research Journal (SAGE) · Study

This paper examines how parents of students with disabilities from different social classes, racial backgrounds, geographic locations, and developmental stages construct school choice sets. Using an intersectional approach, we integrate ethnographic ...

Why this label for Constructing Choice Sets at the Intersections of Disability, Race, Class, and Ge
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Inclusion and accessibility: matched 'students with disabilities'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

Connectivism as an Innovative Didactic Experience in Preservice Physics Teacher Education (opens in new tab)

2026-10-19 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

This chapter examines the use of connectivism as a pedagogical approach in preservice physics teacher education through a classroom experience conducted in a Contemporary Physics course at the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC). The study involved 21 preservice teachers organized into four...

Why this label for Connectivism as an Innovative Didactic Experience in Preservice Physics Teacher
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

The chair challenge: can mechanics really tell men from women? A centre-of-mass analysis of a viral party trick (opens in new tab)

2026-10-18 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

In the "chair challenge" a person stands several foot lengths from a wall, bends forward until the head touches the wall, lifts a chair and tries to stand up. Online videos suggest that women can do this and men cannot, supposedly because women have a lower centre of mass or men have larger feet.

Why this label for The chair challenge: can mechanics really tell men from women? A centre-of-mass
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Integrative Thinking in Computational Physics Design Essays (opens in new tab)

2026-10-15 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

This study investigates integrative thinking in undergraduate computational physics design essays (CPDEs) within an engineering design-based introductory physics laboratory. Integrative thinking refers to the interaction of science, mathematics, computation, design, and metacognitive reflection during problem solving.

Why this label for Integrative Thinking in Computational Physics Design Essays
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate (F7): Self-described conceptual, legal, policy or reflective work with no learner data.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3
  • Metacognition and self-regulation: matched 'metacognitive'
  • Assessment and grading: matched 'rubric'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Test Less, Estimate More: Apply Estimation Thinking to Enhance Theoretical Precision in Educational Leadership Research (opens in new tab)

2026-10-12 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

This article promotes estimation thinking as both a methodological stance and a logic of theorizing aimed at enhancing theoretical precision. Estimation thinking is defined as an inferential approach that moves beyond null hypothesis significance ...

Why this label for Test Less, Estimate More: Apply Estimation Thinking to Enhance Theoretical Preci
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Current State of Estimation Thinking in Educational Leadership Research: A Review of Research Published Between 2005 and 2024 (opens in new tab)

2026-10-12 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the extent to which research in educational leadership and management reflects the core principles of estimation thinking - a statistical thinking that prioritizes estimation over binary hypothesis testing and ...

Why this label for Current State of Estimation Thinking in Educational Leadership Research: A Revie
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Building District Capacity for Organizational Learning: Nurturing a Culture of Learning and Continuous Improvement (opens in new tab)

2026-10-08 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

Purpose:Research indicates that building schools and districts capable of problem solving and continuous improvement requires focused effort to develop internal capacity for organizational learning. As a field, however, we lack substantial evidence ...

Why this label for Building District Capacity for Organizational Learning: Nurturing a Culture of L
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Training for Civics Teachers in East Jerusalem: Compliance, Compromise or Resistance? (opens in new tab)

2026-10-08 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

Educators who share knowledge deemed ‘dangerous’ by the state face unique pressures to comply with repressive policies, while at the same time uniquely positioned to resist them. In East Jerusalem, public schools are subject to coercive policies aimed at ...

Why this label for Training for Civics Teachers in East Jerusalem: Compliance, Compromise or Resist
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Measuring the Speed of Light with a Time-of-Flight Setup: An Authentic Experiment for High School (opens in new tab)

2026-10-08 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Students often perceive scientific experiments as clean, straightforward procedures with predictable outcomes. Students' beliefs about the nature of experimental physics typically remain inconsistent through the initial stages of undergraduate education.

Why this label for Measuring the Speed of Light with a Time-of-Flight Setup: An Authentic Experimen
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Elementary Principals’ Enactments of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation: Examining the Influence of Context (opens in new tab)

2026-10-08 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

This multiple case study examines how contextual elements shape elementary school principals’ enactments of state-level anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Grounded in policy enactment theory, this work draws on interviews from a larger comparative case study to ...

Why this label for Elementary Principals’ Enactments of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation: Examining the Infl
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Policy and governance: matched 'Legislation'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

Using Learning Analytics to Study Novice Learners' Work on Quantum Circuit Simulator Tasks (opens in new tab)

2026-10-07 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Interactive quantum circuit simulators are increasingly used to support introductory quantum computing education for learners from varied disciplinary backgrounds. These environments can also generate detailed response logs of submitted circuits, but such data are rarely transformed into evidence that instructors can...

Why this label for Using Learning Analytics to Study Novice Learners' Work on Quantum Circuit Simul
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Thermal fluctuations and electronic readout using a moving-coil movement (opens in new tab)

2026-10-06 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

The moving-coil meter provides a simple context in which to model deterministic electromechanical dynamics, thermal fluctuations, and electronic readout. The movement is a linear electromechanical system in which electrical resistance and intrinsic mechanical damping act as two independent dissipative channels, each...

Why this label for Thermal fluctuations and electronic readout using a moving-coil movement
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Damping by design in a bilateral electromechanical transducer (opens in new tab)

2026-10-05 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

In a bilateral electromechanical transducer, energy exchange across the electromechanical interface allows the electrical termination to modify the mechanical response through electromagnetic feedback. The paper develops this idea from a simple magnetic pendulum, describing the electromechanical coupling through the...

Why this label for Damping by design in a bilateral electromechanical transducer
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate (F7): Self-described conceptual, legal, policy or reflective work with no learner data.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Education and Climate Change: Synthesizing the Evidence to Guide Future Research (opens in new tab)

2026-10-03 · American Educational Research Journal (SAGE) · Study

Schools are both vulnerable to climate change and uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. We conduct an integrative review of interdisciplinary research and data to better understand the bidirectional relationship between education systems and our ...

Why this label for Education and Climate Change: Synthesizing the Evidence to Guide Future Research
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

Sensemaking of physics equations: Rationale, conceptualization, and core strategies (opens in new tab)

2026-10-03 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

In physics instruction, equations are often treated primarily as tools for obtaining numerical results. Yet physicists also use them to describe dependencies, explain why those dependencies hold, predict what happens in new situations, test expressions against physical knowledge, and explore consequences that are not...

Why this label for Sensemaking of physics equations: Rationale, conceptualization, and core strateg
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3
  • Worked examples and explicit instruction: matched 'explicit instruction'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

Adapting Public Exams for Introductory Physics: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Student Outcomes (opens in new tab)

2026-10-02 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Public Exams are an assessment system designed in the context of Biology Education Research to increase student engagement in the exam design process. Students are shown incomplete versions of test questions ahead of time, with the format of the question revealed but some details withheld.

Why this label for Adapting Public Exams for Introductory Physics: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3
  • Motivation and engagement: matched 'student engagement'
  • Assessment and grading: matched 'Exams'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Technical testProvisional (rules only)Study type: Technical test (no real learners)

A Student Sounding Rocket Experiment to Probe Electron Density in the Lower Ionosphere (opens in new tab)

2026-10-01 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Earth's ionosphere is primarily generated by the Sun's ionization of atoms in the upper atmosphere. This plasma environment is highly dynamic, exhibits strong spatial and temporal, variations and significantly impacts power systems, navigation, and satellite and ground communications.

Why this label for A Student Sounding Rocket Experiment to Probe Electron Density in the Lower Iono
  • Technical test: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R4 real-learner gate (F1/F2): Outputs of models, simulations or audits; any humans act as raters, references or data sources, not learners.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Technical testProvisional (rules only)Study type: Technical test (no real learners)

Determining the degree of randomness in multiple-choice question distractors (opens in new tab)

2026-10-01 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Multiple-choice questions are a staple of educational assessment due to their efficiency, but their diagnostic ability is inherently limited. Traditional psychometric techniques infer misconceptions by fitting models to predetermined data patterns, making them ineffective for analysing small, novel, or...

Why this label for Determining the degree of randomness in multiple-choice question distractors
  • Technical test: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R4 real-learner gate (F1/F2): Outputs of models, simulations or audits; any humans act as raters, references or data sources, not learners.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

Teaching a plasma physics and engineering class at a liberal arts college using Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) (opens in new tab)

2026-09-30 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

Undergraduate research experiences provide students with an opportunity to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to authentic scientific problems. In this work, we describe the development of a special-topics course in Plasma Physics and Engineering (PPE) at a small liberal arts college using a Course-Based...

Why this label for Teaching a plasma physics and engineering class at a liberal arts college using
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

From Two-Level Hamiltonians to Quantum Superposition and Measurement: A Traceable Classroom Module (opens in new tab)

2026-09-28 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

We present a traceable instructional module that maps documented learner difficulties in quantum superposition and measurement to explicit learning goals, classroom activities, and assessment evidence. Using the general two-level Hamiltonian as the organizing physics framework, the module implements this mapping...

Why this label for From Two-Level Hamiltonians to Quantum Superposition and Measurement: A Traceabl
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3
  • Assessment and grading: matched 'grading'

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Technical testProvisional (rules only)Study type: Technical test (no real learners)

Community agreements pedagogy in physics (opens in new tab)

2026-09-28 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

The idea of engaging critically and creatively with physics theories is a stretch for many physicists and physics educators. Most physicists become enculturated into the belief that physics definitions, laws, and equations are read from the book of nature.

Why this label for Community agreements pedagogy in physics
  • Technical test: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R4 real-learner gate (F1/F2): Outputs of models, simulations or audits; any humans act as raters, references or data sources, not learners.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryProvisional (rules only)

Activity Report on the Ninth African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications (ASP2026) (opens in new tab)

2026-09-27 · arXiv physics.ed-ph · Study (preprint)

The African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications, also known as the African School of Physics (ASP), was initiated in 2010, as a three-week biennial event, to offer additional training in fundamental and applied physics to African students with a minimum of three-year university education. Since its...

Why this label for Activity Report on the Ninth African School of Fundamental Physics and Applicati
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R5 design: descriptive (F3): Descriptive, qualitative, pilot or deployment study with real participants.
  • Preprint: not peer reviewed; capped at Level 3

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

CommentaryProvisional (rules only)

“We’ve Gone 100 Years Back:” School Counseling District Leaders’ Making Sense of Their Lived Experiences Navigating DEI Restrictions in K-12 Education (opens in new tab)

2026-09-26 · Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE) · Study

Over the last several years, K-12 education has seen a renewed focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives followed by a substantial counter response through anti-DEI laws, often developed and implemented via anti-democratic processes, ...

Why this label for “We’ve Gone 100 Years Back:” School Counseling District Leaders’ Making Sense of
  • Commentary: provisional rules-only grade, pending grader consensus and review: R3 genre gate: No empirical learner data described; conceptual, framework, policy or argument paper.

Provisional label from fixed rules applied to the collected text; research items are re-graded by our review pipeline. Method

Sources this week: American Educational Research Journal (SAGE), ERIC (peer reviewed), Educational Administration Quarterly (SAGE), Learning and Instruction (Elsevier), Teaching and Teacher Education (Elsevier), arXiv physics.ed-ph.