Research on process-oriented instruction has been thriving in Europe for a number of years. This Special Issue provides the opportunity to bring together a number of research studies investigating the educational potential of this form of instruction in a wide range of domains of instruction (reading comprehension, physics, computer programming and psychology) and educational settings (secondary school and university). This final paper reflects on the common conceptual threads that link these diverse studies together1. A number of conceptual, methodological and practical issues emerging out of the research are reviewed.