Research done by eMUIS Lab
Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)
Dr. Muis' research on self-regulated learning has focused on understanding how learners actively monitor, control, and adapt their cognition, motivation, emotions, and behaviours to achieve learning goals. Drawing on and extending prominent models of SRL, I developed a comprehensive theoretical framework that explicitly integrates emotions into the regulation process, highlighting how emotional experiences influence learners' goal setting, strategy use, monitoring, and adaptation during learning. My work has advanced understanding of SRL across diverse contexts, including mathematics, science, online learning, and collaborative learning environments.
The impact of this research has been both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, it has contributed to a more comprehensive conceptualization of SRL by positioning emotions as central rather than peripheral to regulation. Empirically, Dr. Muis' work has demonstrated how specific emotions and emotion regulation strategies facilitate or hinder learning and achievement. Practically, this research has led to the development and evaluation of classroom interventions that improve students' self-regulatory skills, academic achievement, and emotional resilience. These interventions have been adopted in schools and school districts, influencing educational practice and supporting learners from elementary school through higher education. More recently, her has expanded to investigate co-regulated learning and socially shared regulation of learning, providing new insights into how regulation unfolds in collaborative contexts.
Epistemic Cognition (Understanding Inquiry)
Dr. Muis' research on epistemic cognition examines how individuals understand, evaluate, justify, and use knowledge when confronted with complex, uncertain, or conflicting information. This work has explored learners' beliefs about knowledge and knowing, their evaluation of evidence, and their decision-making processes across domains such as science, mathematics, climate change, vaccine hesitancy, racism, and digital information environments. A central contribution of this research has been demonstrating that epistemic cognition is not merely a cognitive process but is deeply intertwined with learners' emotions and regulatory processes.
The impact of this work has been substantial in advancing theory and informing practice. Her research was among the first to demonstrate that epistemic beliefs can shape emotional experiences during learning and that these emotions, in turn, influence how learners evaluate information and evidence. This work has helped explain why individuals accept or reject scientific information and why misinformation can be so persuasive. Practically, the findings have informed interventions designed to improve critical evaluation of online information, promote digital literacy, increase vaccine acceptance, encourage climate action, and reduce prejudice and racist attitudes. These contributions have become increasingly important in an era characterized by misinformation, polarized discourse, and rapid technological change.
Emotions and Emotion Regulation
Dr. Muis' research on emotions and emotion regulation investigates how emotions arise during learning, how they influence cognitive and motivational processes, and how learners can effectively regulate these emotions to support learning and achievement. This work has focused particularly on epistemic emotions such as confusion, curiosity, surprise, frustration, and enjoyment, which emerge when learners encounter uncertainty, contradictions, or challenges. Through a program of theoretical and empirical research, she has developed and tested models that explain the reciprocal relationships among emotions, cognition, motivation, and self-regulated learning.
The impact of this line of research has been significant in transforming how emotions are understood within educational psychology. Rather than viewing emotions as secondary outcomes of learning, her research has demonstrated that emotions are central drivers of learning processes and outcomes. Empirical studies have shown that emotions such as confusion can either facilitate or impede learning depending on how they are regulated, while positive emotions can support engagement, persistence, and achievement. This work has led to the development of evidence-based interventions that teach students adaptive emotion regulation strategies, resulting in improved learning outcomes, motivation, and well-being.
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Integrative Contribution
Although these three lines of research are distinct, together they form a highly integrated program of scholarship centered on understanding how learners think, feel, and regulate their learning in complex educational contexts. Dr. Muis' work has demonstrated that epistemic cognition, emotions, and self-regulated learning are deeply interconnected processes that jointly shape learning and achievement. By developing theoretical models, innovative methodologies, and practical interventions, this research program has advanced educational theory while producing meaningful impacts on teaching, learning, digital literacy, scientific reasoning, and educational practice across diverse populations and settings.
Books written by the lab's Director, Dr. Krista R. Muis
Join the Lab
If you are interested in joining the lab as a volunteer, please contact the lab director. If you would like to pursue a Masters or PhD under Dr. Muis's supervision, for more information, please click on the following link on how to apply to the Learning Sciences program: