Are educational institutions checking that the pedagogical practices they follow are really based on evidence-based research? Or are they just practices handed down from generation to generation or practices that look “practical and sound” as everbody with commonsense can understand?
As in every other area, fads can pop up in the educational field also. These fads, if they do work, might have undesirable “side effects” that we do not want. Or they might be pure fads with no real impact on teaching effectiveness.
According to one author, research indicates that student achievement variations depend primarily on the students themseves (50%). However, 30% of the achievement variance could be attributed to the role of teachers. Unlike conventional wisdom, it seems that the home, school, principal and peers make very little difference to student achievement.
The major factors that influence achievement include Feedback, Student’s cognitive ability, Instructional quality and Direct instruction, according the author. Three of the four fall under the role of the teacher. Even computer assisted education and individualization of teaching are ranked lower for their effect on student achievement.
However, computer-assisted education, for example, has moved much since the time of this view. What effect can modern developments like cognitive tutor can have on student achievement is to be seen. Cognitive tutors supposedly monitor how students go about their learning, and direct them towards “best practices.”
Read a blog post at Pedagogy Science.
