Project CA:PPA-LAS
Cognitive Activation: Perspectives and Practices in Application for Lower-Achieving Students
The project CA:PPA-LAS investigates how lower-achieving students in heterogeneous primary school classrooms can be specifically cognitively activated and supported in engaging in deeper thinking. We systematically examine the practical knowledge of primary school teachers and link it to existing theoretical conceptualizations of cognitive activation. Based on these findings, the project aims to develop practice-oriented recommendations and workshops that support teachers in designing adaptive, cognitively activating instruction.
High-quality teaching takes into account the individual needs and learning prerequisites of all students. Cognitive activation—the deliberate stimulation of students to engage in deeper, goal-oriented thinking—is considered one of the three key dimensions of instructional quality and should therefore be adapted to students’ individual levels of learning.
For lower-achieving primary school students, such as children with learning difficulties, a slower pace of learning or limited subject-specific prior knowledge, a “one-size-fits-all” approach is particularly inadequate. In typically heterogeneous primary school classrooms, these students need differentiated learning opportunities and targeted support to engage intensively with challenging, cognitively activating tasks. However, designing such instruction poses a challenge for teachers. Although there is substantial empirical evidence for the effectiveness of cognitively activating instruction, little is known about how lower-achieving students can be specifically cognitively activated in the classroom. Likewise, there is a lack of evidence-based practical guidance on how cognitively activating instruction should be designed for these learners.
This project aims to further specify the concept of cognitive activation for lower-achieving students and, on this basis, to develop practical recommendations for teachers.
Selected Publications
- Begrich, L., Praetorius, A.-K., Decristan, J., Fauth, B., Göllner, R., Herrmann, C., Kleinknecht, M., Taut, S., & Kunter, M. (2023). Was tun? Perspektiven für eine Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung der Zukunft. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 51(1), 63–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-023-00163-4
- Fauth, B., Decristan, J., & Dumont, H. (2024). Kognitive Aktivierung und adaptiver Unterricht: Konzeptionelle Verbindungen und Weiterentwicklungen. In A. K. Praetorius, W. Wemmer-Rogh, P. Schreyer, & M. Brinkmann (Hrsg.), Kognitive Aktivierung unter der Lupe. Bestandsaufnahme und Möglichkeiten der Weiterentwicklung eines prominenten Konstrukts (S. 248–260). Waxmann. https://doi.org/10.31244/9783830999010
- Praetorius, A.-K., Charalambous, C. Y., Vieluf, S., Steffensky, M., Göllner, R., & Fauth, B. (2025). Rethinking teaching-quality research: A reflection on the role of core working assumptions and possible pathways for future research. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 36(2), 314–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2025.2482575
