From September 1 to 3, 2025, the European Society of Psychology Teaching and Learning met in Münster. Around 100 participants from 18 countries exchanged ideas on how to improve the teaching of psychology and how it is changing in line with social and political developments. 

The participants' presentations and posters dealt with topics such as supporting critical thinking and self-regulated learning, and developing reflective skills. Against the background of the coronavirus experience, research on asynchronous learning and digital teaching formats in psychology was reported. Ethical issues were discussed, often in the context of clinical psychology training. Contributions on psychological literacy and science communication highlighted the role of psychology in the non-specialist public sphere. 

The conference was characterized by many opportunities for active exchange. In addition to discussion events, participants offered several workshops, four of which were pre-conference workshops held before the official opening of the conference. These workshops focused on the evaluation of student research projects, scientific-psychological thinking in the context of global health, the analysis and understanding of scientific communication within psychology, and the production of freely available teaching materials.

 
The invited keynotes inspired to broaden perspectives: 

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• Andrew Butler (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) reported on current research in learning and cognition that can be directly applied in the teaching of psychology: „Applying the Science of Learning to the Teaching of Psychology“.  

• Helen Fischer (Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media, Tübingen, Germany) talked about the role of metacognition in communicating politically controversial topics: „Leveraging Metacognition for Scientific Thinking about Contested Topics: From Climate Change to COVID-19“. 

• Nicolas Sommet (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) presented his research on academic performance at school under conditions of economic inequality: „How Economic Inequality in Society Shapes Student Outcomes in Secondary Schools”.
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The international exchange brought new ideas and understanding of the different social, economic, and cultural conditions under which psychology is taught and studied.

 
The conference was supported by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Association of German Professional. The latter donated a Best Paper Award thereby expressing their particular appreciation for excellent teaching in psychology. Several experts independently assessed the quality of the submitted papers and their presentations. The award went to the team of authors Marvin Fendt, Xenia Muth und Peter Edelsbrunner (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany) for their contribution „Teaching Critical Source Evaluation - A Meta-Analysis on Source Credibility Interventions“.

 
Interested in further ESPLAT activities?

The next ESPLAT Conference will take place in České Budějovice (Czech Republic)!