Learning the Control of Variables Strategy in Higher and Lower Achieving Classrooms: Contributions of Explicit Instruction and Experimentation

Students ( n = 797) from 36 4th-grade classrooms were taught the control of variables strategy for designing experiments. In the instruct condition, classes were taught in an interactive lecture format. In the manipulate condition, students worked in groups to design and run experiments to determine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational psychology 2010-02, Vol.102 (1), p.90-101
Main Authors: Lorch, Robert F, Lorch, Elizabeth P, Calderhead, William J, Dunlap, Emily E, Hodell, Emily C, Freer, Benjamin Dunham
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Achievement Gains
Biological and medical sciences
Classroom Techniques
Classrooms
Direct Instruction
Educational psychology
Elementary school students
Experimentation
Experiments
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Grade 4
High Achievement
Human
Inquiry
Instructional Effectiveness
Intermode Differences
Kentucky
Lecture Method
Low Achievement
Predictor Variables
Pretests Posttests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychopedagogics. Didactics
Schools
Science Education
Scientific Methodology
Students
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Variables
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Summary:Students ( n = 797) from 36 4th-grade classrooms were taught the control of variables strategy for designing experiments. In the instruct condition, classes were taught in an interactive lecture format. In the manipulate condition, students worked in groups to design and run experiments to determine the effects of four variables. In the both condition, classes received the interactive lecture and also designed and ran experiments. We assessed students' understanding using a written test of their ability to distinguish valid from invalid experimental comparisons. Performance on this test improved from the pretest to the immediate posttest in all conditions, and gains were maintained at a 5-month delay. For students from both higher and lower achieving schools, gains ordered as follows: both > instruct > manipulate. However, students from higher achieving schools showed greater gains in all conditions. Item analyses showed that the interactive lecture improved students' understanding of the need to control irrelevant variables, and experimentation improved students' understanding of the need to vary the focal variable.
ISSN:0022-0663
1939-2176
DOI:10.1037/a0017972