Can educational experiments both test a theory and inform practice?

Marsden, Emma

doi:10.1080/01411920701434094

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(85 reference statements)

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“…Further, both Bonetti et al. (2010) in behavioural research andMarsden (2007) in education research have adopted the approach of developing intermediary studies -taking an experimental approach into a practice 2 context - in order to directly address this gap. Bolton and Ockenfels (2008) describe this as losing control in a controlled way.…”

Section: A Comparison Of Designer Activity Using Core Design Situatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice

2013

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. A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice. Design Studies, 34(5), 575--611. DOI: 10.1016DOI: 10. /j.destud.2013 A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice Philip A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practiceIn 2011 one quarter of all articles published in Design Studies and the Journal of EngineeringDesign used experimental studies. However, there is little work exploring the relationship between laboratory and practice. This paper addresses this by detailing an analysis of designer activity in three situations commonly studied by design researchers: information seeking, ideation and design review. This comparison is instantiated through three complementary studies: an observational study of practice and two experimental studies.These reveal a range of similarities and differences that are described using a mixed methods approach. Based on this it is concluded that laboratory studies are important research tools and that clear and definable relationships do exist between design activity in practice and the laboratory.Keywords: experiment; designer activity; practice; laboratory; research methodsExperimental studies play a key role in design research, accounting for a quarter of all articles in Design Studies (7 out of 28) and the Journal of Engineering Design (9 out of 40) in 2011. However, practitioners often perceive there to be a dichotomy between fundamental experimental study and applied, practice based, design research. Friedman (2000) states that "Practitioners sometimes reject vital streams of research while seeking solutions that do work" (p.22). This perspective is further elaborated by Edmonds et al. (2005) who suggest that the underlying failing of experimental study is that the subject is not design practice itself but actually a simulation of practice in an contrived context. As such, a key point of contention can be characterised as the unknown affect that simulation and contrived context have on designer activity.This type of issue also appears in many fields related to design research. For example, Eifert et al. (1999), in behavioural research, state that the relevance of laboratory based research has been understated due to the gap in understanding external validity. Further, both Bonetti et al. (2010) in behavioural research andMarsden (2007) in education research have adopted the approach of developing intermediary studies -taking an experimental approach into a practice 2 context - in order to directly address this gap. Bolton and Ockenfels (2008) describe this as losing control in a controlled way. Although this approach can be important it is most effective when based on substantive theory, allowing key factors to be controlled as well as offering predictions to be examined (Levitt & List, 2007). As little predictive theory is currently available in design research the authors argue that as a field, we are not yet ready to fully adopt ...

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Section: A Comparison Of Designer Activity Using Core Design Situatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice

2013

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“…Finally, I raise an issue that is relevant to much experimental educational research: a comparison treatment is usually evaluated in terms of the potential benefits of the experimental treatment, and yet the comparison treatment may have benefits of its own. The outcome measurements in Wong's study tested for morphosyntax, yet the comparison treatment (input with other kinds of comprehension questions), may have had other kinds of benefits such as vocabulary acquisition (as learners can just focus on lexical items to answer the questions), or reading fluency (see Marsden 2007). This is an empirical question, applicable to most educational experiments that evaluate one type of intervention over another.…”

Section: Operationalising Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

Processing Instruction and Discourse – By A. Benati and J. Lee

Marsden

2011

Int J App Linguistics

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“…"In addition to achievement test scores, attitudinal data were collected from the teachers and pupils, using questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Attitudinal data suggested that learners found both PI and EI activities new and enjoyable" (Marsden, 2007). The achievement test results among the learners who were in a very early stage of developing a particular grammar concept and who experienced input PI activities (those PI activities forced them to interpret the grammar concept) resulted in statistically significant larger learning gains than EI in all four measures used, namely, listening, reading, writing and speaking.…”

Section: ) Electronic Pen Pal Communication With Individuals From Himentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The achievement test results among the learners who were in a very early stage of developing a particular grammar concept and who experienced input PI activities (those PI activities forced them to interpret the grammar concept) resulted in statistically significant larger learning gains than EI in all four measures used, namely, listening, reading, writing and speaking. For more advance students the advantages of PI instruction were the case too, but less pronounced (Marsden, 2007).…”

Section: ) Electronic Pen Pal Communication With Individuals From Himentioning

confidence: 99%

Pilot study of a multimedia instructional program for teaching ESL grammar with embedded tracking

Koehler

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Brief description of the findings from the literature review Statement of the problem Purpose of the study Limitations of the multimedia instructional program under development Limitations of the pilot study Target audiences Summary CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Purpose of the literature review Methodology Existing theories and approaches for teaching ESL grammar The eclectic method of teaching grammar Instructional environment: a cognitive load perspective Evaluation studies and findings from cognitive load theory Project goals and design space The target program compared to the other multimedia programs available General framework for the evaluation of programs for teaching ESL grammar Evaluation studies describing the effectiveness of different features of multimedia instructional programs The use of captions in the system-paced learning environments Personalization effect Different formats of presenting information on the screen Conclusion 37 Summary CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY Description of the program under development Subjects Research questions and data collection instruments Data collection process Analysis of the data 48 Summary CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND FINDINGS Research question 1: What is the impact of the intervention on students' ability to use present and past simple passive voice for describing the USA? iii Research question 2: What is the impact of the intervention on students' understanding of how to apply present simple and past simple passive voice form in the contexts other than describing a country? Research question 3: How do students use the program? Research question 4: What are the relationships between students' learning outcomes, computer experience, background knowledge of passive voice, and performance on the tests?

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Can educational experiments both test a theory and inform practice?

Cited by 15 publications

References 60 publications

A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice

A comparison of designer activity using core design situations in the laboratory and practice

Processing Instruction and Discourse – By A. Benati and J. Lee

Pilot study of a multimedia instructional program for teaching ESL grammar with embedded tracking

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