Meaningful Learning: Self-Regulated Learning in Teaching and Learning

In recent years, the Israeli education system has experienced significant momentum in the implementation of inquiry-based teaching and learning. Analyses of implementation patterns indicate broad success, reflected in large-scale adoption across diverse age groups. However, substantial challenges remain regarding the depth of inquiry processes that occur in practice. In many classrooms, inquiry is carried out in a “technical” and superficial manner—external elements of the process may be present, yet deeper and more essential components, such as the cognitive and metacognitive processes that constitute inquiry, are often absent. This limits students’ ability to transfer knowledge and develop high-level thinking.

One major reason for such mechanical and shallow learning is the lack of attention to meta-level learning processes, including metacognition and self-regulated learning (SRL). A vast body of research shows that these components are critical to meaningful inquiry-based learning. Yet, scholars report a substantial gap between theory and practice in the enactment of metacognitive and self-regulatory teaching. A key source of this gap lies in the professional development challenges faced by teachers in this domain.

To address this need, Prof. Tova Michalsky (Bar-Ilan University) responded to a national call issued jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Israel Science Foundation, inviting proposals to deepen meaningful learning. The proposed project received funding to design pathways for enhancing the teaching and learning of higher-order thinking and inquiry in science and history, through the integration of metacognitive and self-regulated learning tools. The project included a stage dedicated to training teacher educators, to enable large-scale, sustained implementation among in-service teachers. Our lab and this website were therefore established to support the professional development of teacher educators and teachers in science and history.

Prof. Michalsky and the lab team developed the PfS – Pedagogical Frameworks for Self-Regulation method, designed to strengthen the professional vision of preservice and inservice teachers in the context of self-regulated learning (SRL). This method enables teachers to analyze SRL-promoting instructional processes using video recordings of expert teachers. PfS integrates observational tools and computer-based coding systems for analyzing qualitative and quantitative pedagogical scenarios.

The lab’s research contributes to reshaping the science of learning, teaching, and teacher education, with the goal of systematically addressing the educational challenges of the 21st century and promoting meaningful national and international impact.