Jean-Louis Berger

PhD in Education, Geneva University 2008

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 jean-louis.berger@unifr.ch
 +41 26 300 7542
 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2629-2622

Educational psychology

Motivation to learn

Metacognition

Self-regulated learning

Epistemic beliefs

Vice-Rector
Rectorate

RM 02 bu. S-3.103
Rue P.A. de Faucigny 2
1700 Fribourg
RM 02, S-3.103
+41 26 300 7542

Professor
Department of Education

RM 02 bu. S-3.103
Rue P.A. de Faucigny 2
1700 Fribourg
Hours of presence
RM 02, S-3.103
+41 26 300 7542

Biography

My research interests lie at the intersection of education and psychology. Specifically, I study self-regulated learning, metacognition, learning strategies, help seeking, motivation and instructional practices that influence it, teacher motivation, and teachers' knowledge and beliefs.

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Liste des publications

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Research and publications

  • Publications
    163 publications

    Students' formative assessment perceptions: A multilevel analysis of gender and classroom effects in primary schools in Tanzania
    Shafii, Rajabu Abdalah and Fulgence, Katherine and Kyaruzi, Florence and Berger, Jean-Louis, Pre-print (2026) | Journal article

    Approaches to classroom assessment among primary school teachers in Tanzania: A latent class analysis.
    Shafii, Rajabu Abdalah and Said, Amina Rashid and Berger, Jean-Louis, Pre-print (2026) | Journal article

    Development and Validity Evidence of the Motivational Regulation Strategies Inventory (MRSI)
    Jean-Louis Berger, Laurent Cosnefroy, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment (2026) | Journal article

    Motivational Regulation Strategies in EFL: Insights from a Scoping Review
    Tetyana Vereshchahina, Laurent Cosnefroy, Jean-Louis Berger, (2026) | Preprint

    Approaches to Classroom Assessment among Primary School Teachers in Tanzania: A Latent Class Analysis
    Rajabu Shafii, Amina Said, Jean-Louis Berger, (2026) | Preprint

    Students' Formative Assessment Perceptions: A Multilevel Analysis of Gender and Classroom Effects in Primary Schools in Tanzania
    Rajabu Shafii, Katherine Fulgence, Florence Kyaruzi, Jean-Louis Berger, (2026) | Preprint

    Teacher assessment literacy, formative assessment practices, and their perceived efficacy in Tanzania: A scoping review
    Rajabu Abdalah Shafii, Jean-Louis Berger, Studies in Educational Evaluation (2025) | Journal article

    Understanding the Transfer of Learning in Apprentices: Individual Characteristics, Motivational Beliefs, and Training Quality , in VETNET
    Arturo Garcia de Olalla Gutierrez, Matilde Wenger, Florinda Sauli, Jean-Louis Berger (2025) | Book chapter

    Understanding the Transfer of Learning in Apprentices: Individual Characteristics, Motivational Beliefs, and Training Quality , in VETNET
    Arturo Garcia de Olalla Gutierrez, Matilde Wenger, Florinda Sauli, Jean-Louis Berger (2025) | Book chapter

    Évaluer une pratique professionnelle : besoins psychologiques, motivation et conceptions de l’évaluation
    David Jan, Jean-Louis Berger (2025) | Review

  • Research projects

    Scholars at Risk support for Tetyana Vereshchahina
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.05.2022
    End 30.04.2023
    Funding SNSF  Open project sheet
    Mrs Vereshchahina worked at the National University of Kiv-Mohyla Academy as assitant professor. She had to flee form the Ukraine due to the war. She is now together with her mother in Fribourg. She knows the University of Fribourg because of her work with Prof. Bernadette Charlier and research stays in 2015 and 2016 here. Prof. Charlier and Prof. Berger are looking forward to integrate her in their department and support her during her stay at the Unifr.

    How is the quality of upper-secondary-level VET understood by its players, and how does it influence learner commitment?
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.02.2018
    End 30.06.2022
    Funding Other 

    La qualité de la formation professionnelle initiale : comment les acteurs de la formation la conçoivent-ils ? Comment module-t-elle l’engagement des apprentis ? Analyse inter lieux de formation et développement d’un instrument scientifiquement fondé
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.02.2018
    End 30.06.2022
    Funding SNSF 

    The notion of quality of training has become increasingly important in the policy discourse on VET/PET in Switzerland and has been enshrined in the VET Act for over ten years. Although the Swiss VET/PET system is nationally and internationally recognized as performing well, this recognition is primarily based on economic indicators such as the youth unemployment rate. However, in order to improve the quality of the training received by the majority of adolescents and young adults in Switzerland, we believe it is essential to take an interest in how those involved in training (apprentices, vocational school teachers and company trainers) define and perceive the quality of this training. Promoting the quality of training should, in particular, reduce the risk of students dropping out and improve their commitment to their training. These indicators allow us to understand the impact of quality from a more psycho-pedagogical perspective, and this project therefore has three objectives that will be achieved through three consecutive studies. First, the focus group method will be used to understand how the above-mentioned actors perceive the characteristics of high (and low) quality training. Second, based on the results of the first objective, a questionnaire will be developed to allow trainees to express their views on the quality of their training in the two main venues, thus providing formative feedback to training managers. This instrument will be theoretically and scientifically based and its validity will be tested in the course of the project. Third, a questionnaire survey will be used to analyze the impact of the quality of training perceived by trainees on their commitment. The aim is to understand which quality characteristics - as perceived by the apprentices - promote or, on the contrary, limit the apprentices' commitment (behavioral, cognitive and emotional) in the two main training locations, i.e. the training company and the vocational school. The project has both scientific and practical objectives, and will focus on four occupations in which apprenticeship contracts are most frequently broken: a) hairdressing and beauty care, b) hotel and catering, c) construction, and d) retail. The three studies will provide the scientific basis for a pedagogical tool that can be used by various training managers to assess the quality of training (from the apprentice's point of view) and thus adapt their practices and the organization of training. In terms of contribution to scientific knowledge, the project will deepen work on the quality of teaching by considering an often neglected training context, that of initial vocational training. It will broaden current conceptions of the quality of vocational education and training by looking at the two main places of training and will be anchored in specific occupational fields. The project will take a fresh look at the quality of training and illustrate its relevance.

    Teaching Practices and Students’ Engagement: Public Perceptions and Scientific Conclusions
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.09.2017
    End 31.08.2019
    Funding SNSF 

    This communication project, based on research funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation on vocational education, aimed to raise public awareness of teachers' classroom management's impact on student engagement and reshape perceptions of teaching. The research focused on the evolution of 71 teachers' beliefs about classroom management and the impact of these practices on student engagement. An interactive pictorial exhibition was organized in major cities in French-speaking Switzerland to communicate these findings. Aimed at people over the age of 12 and vocational students, the exhibition allowed visitors to experience classroom scenarios, receive feedback, and engage in public debates with researchers. The project emphasized that teachers' practices significantly influence students' engagement and highlighted the importance of pedagogical preparation. A website was created to replicate the exhibition to ensure a lasting impact, and evaluations were conducted through surveys and focus groups to assess changes in public perceptions of teaching.

    L'évolution des croyances et connaissances des enseignants en formation sur la planification de cours et la gestion de la classe
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.08.2013
    End 31.08.2016
    Funding SNSF 

    The professionalization of the teaching profession, to ensure a certain quality of teaching, is a current concern of educational science and educational policy. In particular, this concerns the conscious and targeted development of teachers' beliefs and knowledge (conceptions) during their initial training. As a result, empirical research is increasingly focusing on the topic of teacher thinking. There are, however, several issues - in other words, gray areas - that are currently under discussion. Research suggests that teacher education programs have a limited impact on teachers' beliefs and knowledge. This is due to several factors, including entrenched ideas about teaching based on schooling. However, given the conceptual mix that underlies this conclusion, it is important to clarify which types of beliefs do and do not evolve, and to differentiate the conditions for and resistance to these changes. In addition, the project aims to understand the factors that promote or hinder change in beliefs and knowledge. The project integrates this question with two fundamental activities of the teaching profession: lesson planning and classroom management. In addition, two populations of pre-service teachers are involved in the project, namely general secondary teachers (pre-service) and vocational teachers (in-service), allowing us to assess the degree of generality or possible differences between the two populations. Two empirical studies are proposed, combining different methods of data collection as well as qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. Together, these studies will provide scientifically based information that will feed the knowledge base on teachers' cognitive baggage and help optimize teacher training as well as promote the implementation of pedagogical innovations.

    Cognitive validity of self-reports of learning strategies: Assessment with the cognitive pretesting method
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.10.2008
    End 31.08.2009
    Funding SNSF 

    This project focuses on the issue of measuring learning strategies through self-report measures. This topic is currently under discussion in the community of educational psychologists. The measurement of learning strategies by self-reported Likert-type items is widely criticized, although it provides valid information about students' learning processes. The aim of the present study is to apply an innovative technique, called cognitive pretesting, which allows an in-depth understanding of the cognitive validity of commonly used items. This method is a structured interview that helps to assess whether the respondent understands the meaning of an item and can refer to memories that correspond to the researcher's definition of the construct and its expected range of interpretations. The cognitive validity of items can be quantified based on comparisons between the respondent's responses and the researcher's expectations. We intend to use the method of cognitive pretesting to examine the cognitive validity of items from a well-known instrument, the Motivated Strategy for Learning Questionnaire, in samples of junior high school students. The hypotheses are that some of the items are not appropriate for this population and that the cognitive validity of some scales may be low due to the high level of abstraction of the construct these items are intended to measure. The results will have implications for the measurement of such constructs in students. Improving our understanding of learning strategies will promote pedagogical interventions and teacher training.

Teaching and courses

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