Research on student learning has undergone many changes in the last decade. In particular, the research methodology has advanced in many different ways on the level of complexity of data collection and rigor of data analyses. In the quantitative research perspective, many off-line and online measures and statistical analysis techniques have been further meticulously developed. In the qualitative research perspective, a broader range of data collection tools are applied. Also the use of mixed method data analysis is increasing. Although in some research strands on student learning, the mono method approach of quantitative research is still ‘the golden rule’, in other research strands we notify more methodological creativity in mixing research paradigms and designs which can be very fruitful advancements for further knowledge development. In this book we focus on the domain of research on learning patterns in which these methodological shifts are in rapid evolution. A variety of international research cases illustrating current practices of empirical research, is presented showing how different methods of research on student learning can be applied and be useful for future research. Benefits an boundaries of the research methods are critically discussed and future perspectives are proposed.

Vincent Donche is associate professor of research methods in education at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Antwerp, Belgium and member of the research group EduBROn. His current research interests include cognitive, regulative and affective aspects of student learning, professional learning, academic integration and educational measurement.

Sven De Maeyer is associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His research focuses on methodological and statistical issues in educational research such as: (1) Research on Performance Assessment and Adaptive Comparative Judgment; (2) Research on Instrument and Test development; (3) Self-evaluation instruments for schools; (4) Longitudinal research / Multilevel and mixed effects models / Structural equation models; (5) Combination of applied linguistics and educational research.

David Gijbels is associate professor of learning and instruction at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His research focuses on learning and assessment in higher education and on the workplace.

Huub van den Bergh is a professor at the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics of the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has been involved in many studies on reading, writing and teaching, ranging from small scale think-aloud studies to large scale assessments, and from highly controlled experiments to quasi-experimental and field studies.