Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Alexander Renkl
Short Bio
Alexander Renkl studied psychology in Aachen and Marburg (Germany) and finished his diploma degree in 1987. From 1988 to 1990 he worked as a graduate student at the Max-Planck Institute of Psychological Research, Munich (Germany), and received his doctoral degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1991. As Assistant Professor, he spent several years (1991 to 1997) at the University of Munich before he became a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Education in Schwäbisch Gmünd (Germany). Since 1999, he has been working at the University of Freiburg as Professor of Educational and Developmental Psychology (retirement: 2024). He has (co-) authored over 400 publications in scientific journals, conference proceedings, books, and journals for practitioners.
These publications have substantial impact: Google Scholar: h = 94; retrieved 01/12/2026; Web of Science: h = 54; retrieved 01/12/2026. In addition, Alexander Renkl has been listed among the world’s most cited educational psychologists in the period from 1988 to 2023 (Hassan et al., 2024), and he has received renown awards for his research (e.g., EARLI Oeuvre Award 2025). His main research areas are example-based learning, instructional explanations and self-explanations, learning from multiple representations (multimedia learning), learning strategies, learning by journal writing, retrieval practice, and teachers’ pedagogical and psychological knowledge. This research’s main goals refer to understanding learning processes leading to successful learning and, on this basis, to optimize learning by instructional design.
Main Research Goals:
- Understanding cognitive processes leading to successful learning in students and teachers
- Identifying typical deficits in students’ and teachers’ learning processes
- Developing and optimizing instructional design to address such deficits and to support learning
Selected Publications
- Martin, M., Farrell, M., Seidel, T., Rieß, W., Könings, K. D., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Renkl., A. (2023). Knowing what matters: Short introductory texts support teacher students’ professional vision of tutoring interactions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 104014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104014
- Roelle, J., Endres, T., Abel, R., Obergassel, N., Nückles, M., & Renkl, A. (2023). Happy together? On the relationship between research on retrieval practice and generative learning. Educational Psychology Review, 35(4), 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09810-9.
- Renkl, A. (2022). Meta-analyses as a privileged information source for informing teachers’ practice? A plea for theories as primus inter pares. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie/German Journal of Educational Psychology, 36(4), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1024/1010-0652/a000345
- Nückles, M., Roelle, J., Glogger-Frey, I., Waldeyer, J., & Renkl, A. (2020). The self-regulation view in writing-to-learn: Using journal writing to optimize cognitive load in self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 1089-1126.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09541-1
- Renkl, A. (2017). Learning from worked examples in mathematics: Students relate procedures to principles. ZDM Mathematics Education, 49, 571–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-017-0859-3
- Renkl, A., & Scheiter, K. (2017). Studying visual displays: How to instructionally support learning. Educational Psychology Review, 29, 599-621.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9340-4
- Glogger-Frey, I., Fleischer, C., Grüny, L., Kappich, J. & Renkl, A. (2015). Inventing a solution and studying a worked solution prepare differently for learning from direct instruction. Learning & Instruction, 39, 72-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2015.05.001
- Renkl, A., & Atkinson, R. K. (2003). Structuring the transition from example study to problem solving in cognitive skills acquisition: A cognitive load perspective. Educational Psychologist, 38, 15-22. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3801_3
- Renkl, A. (1997). Learning from worked-out examples: A study on individual differences. Cognitive Science, 21, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0364-0213(99)80017-2
- Renkl, A., Mandl, H., & Gruber, H. (1996). Inert knowledge: Analyses and remedies. Educational Psychologist, 31, 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3102_3
To say it with Graucho Marx: I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member 😉