The goal of this special issue is to serve as a vital resource on the topic of retrieval practice effects in meaningful learning. We aim to lay the groundworks for a comprehensive theoretical account that could inform on when and why retrieval practice is beneficial in meaningful learning that is targeted at learning complex content and that involves learner engagement in different (generative) learning activities. To achieve this goal, the empirical studies of this special issue explicitly test theoretical assumptions about the conditions, processes, and moderators that make retrieval practice effective in meaningful learning and that analyze how the respective learning processes can be instructionally supported. For example, to predict and explain the desirability or effectiveness of retrieval practice, the studies need to specify the required processes involved in studying the material, performing the respective learning task, and the criterial task. To this end, we welcome studies that advance our theoretical understanding of retrieval-practice effects in meaningful learning by providing experimental evidence on the moderating role of crucial factors and/or boundary conditions pertaining to learning task, learner characteristics, learning context, the retrieval task, and potential interactions of these factors (cf. Jenkins, 1979). Note that we do not accept studies that merely address whether retrieval practice has beneficial effects in meaningful learning without attending to theoretical explanations and without experimental manipulation of the crucial factors (e.g., studies that aim at investigating whether retrieval practice is beneficial in learning complex content but do not manipulate the complexity of the content), studies that merely attend to fact learning (i.e., simple materials such as word lists), and studies that only use artificial learning material.
Consult the full call here.