Scientific reasoning encompasses students’ ability to use evidence to understand natural phenomena, generate explanations for them, and evaluate claims. It involves forming hypotheses, designing and conducting observations or experiments, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, argumentation, and revising ideas based on empirical evidence. In my talk, I will illustrate how these processes can be enabled and facilitated using educational technology such as virtual experiments (simulations) to engage in (guided) scientific inquiry practices. The reported studies show how educational technology serves to augment (rather than replace) hands-on experiments; moreover, they illustrate effective ways to support cognitive and metacognitive processes during scientific inquiry.

Learning to read depends on children’s phonological skills and letter knowledge, and measures of rapid naming skill are also correlates of reading fluency. Drawing on a longitudinal study of children at high risk of reading disorders, it is proposed that oral language is the foundation of reading yet its role has typically been underplayed in models of reading development. Data are presented highlighting both the direct and indirect impact of language skills beyond phonology on children’s reading outcomes. Findings are discussed within a multifactorial framework and implications for interventions to promote reading and related educational skills are considered.

Over the past two decades, research on games and learning has revealed how well-designed play can foster cognitive development, motivation, and behavioral change across education, health, and even justice systems. Yet as the world faces escalating disinformation, polarization, and social fragmentation, the field must evolve. This talk reflects on what we have learned about how games cultivate thinking and skill - and argues that the next frontier lies in designing for shared understanding, critical discernment, and civic imagination. Games for learning must now help rebuild the very social fabric that enables learning, trust, and democracy itself.

Talent development frameworks have typically been associated with serving the most able learners in schools. However, to effectively engage in talent development requires gaining an understanding of learners’ current skills and competencies and helping them to move to the next level. As we work towards making society more inclusive, an equitable talent development framework requires recognizing and embracing the backgrounds of all students and creating educational environments where they all thrive. In this presentation, I will discuss psychological factors that showcase how to personalize learning experiences by addressing the unique cultural, social, and cognitive influences that shape each student’s educational journey.