Purpose: In this study, the researchers planned to develop instructional practices and pilot test them to help grade 4 students learn the concept of "control of variables". The control of variables refers to the strategy of manipulating only one variable while the others are held constant or controlled, allowing experimenters to conclude that any changes that occur are due to changes in the one variable. To develop the instructional practices, they will compare two practices they aimed to refine: direct instruction and self-discovery.

Project Activities: After completing the initial development of the approaches, the researchers aimed to recruit grade 4 students from 10 diverse public schools located in Kentucky. They would randomly assign 3 grade 4 classrooms within each school to one of two instructional conditions (direct instruction and the self-discovery) or a control condition that received only the school's regular curriculum on scientific method.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: The schools are located in Kentucky.

Sample: Fourth grade students from five relatively low achieving and five relatively high achieving public schools will participate in this project. The students are primarily European American, African American, and Hispanic (any race). Socioeconomic status is diverse.

Intervention: Two levels of intervention will be used. One will involve explicit instruction combined with extensive student participation throughout the lessons (high participation condition). This condition may be considered a hybrid of direct instruction and discovery learning as it combines explicit instruction with extensive hands-on student participation. The other intervention will also involve explicit instruction, but the student participation activities will be replaced with teacher-provided demonstrations and examples (low participation condition). This condition may be considered a relatively 'pure' example of direct instruction.

Research Design and Methods: To test the relative importance of discovery learning, the impact of the two interventions on control of variables learning will be compared. Within each of the 10 schools, 3 grade 4 classes will participate. One of the classes within each school will be assigned at random to the high participation condition. A second class will be assigned at random to the low participation condition. The remaining class will serve as a control.

Control Condition: Students in the control classrooms will receive only the school's regular curriculum on scientific method.

Key Measures: The relative impact of discovery learning combined with direct instruction versus direct instruction alone will be measured in two primary ways. First, there will be three paper and pencil tests that assess the understanding of the control of variables logic (pretest, immediate test, posttest). In addition, two sets of hands-on experiments will be conducted. Finally, three delayed tests are planned: a science fair in which students must create posters presenting their own science projects, the above-mentioned posttest, and performance on the standardized science achievement test given each year in Kentucky.

Data Analytic Strategy: This development project is intended only to obtain evidence of the potential efficacy of the intervention. Initial analyses will be at the level of the student.

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

WWC Review:

Lorch, R.F., Jr., Lorch, E.P., Calderhead, W.J., Dunlap, E.E., Hodell, E.C., and Freer, B.D. (2010). Learning the Control of Variables Strategy in Higher and Lower Achieving Classrooms: Contributions of Explicit Instruction and Experimentation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(1): 90–101. [WWC Review]

Select Publications:

Journal articles

Lorch Jr, R.F., Lorch, E.P., Freer, B.D., Dunlap, E.E., Hodell, E.C., and Calderhead, W.J. (2014). Using Valid and Invalid Experimental Designs to Teach the Control of Variables Strategy in Higher and Lower Achieving Classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(1): 18–35.

Lorch, R.F., Jr., Lorch, E.P., Calderhead, W.J., Dunlap, E.E., Hodell, E.C., and Freer, B.D. (2010). Learning the Control of Variables Strategy in Higher and Lower Achieving Classrooms: Contributions of Explicit Instruction and Experimentation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(1): 90–101.