WWC review of this study

The Effects of Arts-Integrated Instruction on Students' Memory for Science Content: Results from a Randomized Control Trial Study

Hardiman, Mariale; JohnBull, Ranjini Mahinda; Carran, Deborah (2017). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED576190

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    276
     Students
    , grade
    5

Reviewed: August 2021

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Earth/Space Sciences outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Researcher-developed astronomy assessment

Arts-Integrated Instruction vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Astronomy, Session 1 ;
75 students

53.72

53.95

No

--
Life sciences outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Researcher-developed life sciences assessment

Arts-Integrated Instruction vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Life Sciences, Session 1;
73 students

46.59

49.94

No

--
Physical sciences outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Researcher-developed chemistry assessment

Arts-Integrated Instruction vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Chemistry, Session 1;
68 students

53.46

52.41

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Researcher-developed chemistry assessment

Arts-Integrated Instruction vs. Business as usual

10 Weeks

Chemistry, Session 1;
68 students

50.12

43.91

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


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    District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

Setting

The study was conducted in six middle schools in an urban, Mid-Atlantic school district in the United States.

Study sample

The researchers randomly assigned 374 students in 16 middle school grade 5 classrooms to receive arts-integrated instruction or business-as-usual instruction in science. Each student took courses in two of four science content areas: astronomy, life sciences, chemistry, and environmental sciences. Students assigned to receive arts-integrated instruction were compared to those receiving business-as-usual instruction in the same science content area. The final student sample included 276 students. The authors did not describe the characteristics of the student sample.

Intervention Group

The intervention condition consisted of a researcher-designed, arts-integrated curriculum for each of four science content areas (astronomy, life sciences, chemistry, and environmental sciences) which was presented as whole-class instruction in 15 lessons. These lessons were provided over 15 days for 3 to 4 weeks of instructional time. Teachers incorporated visual and performing arts into the delivery of curricular content, and students demonstrated acquired knowledge via these arts. For example, whereas students in a business-as-usual condition might display acquired knowledge by presenting information through a table or graph, students in the arts-integrated intervention condition demonstrated their understanding of content through a variety of arts-based activities such as dance, tableaux, singing, or drawing.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison condition received business-as-usual instruction in each science content area for the same length as the intervention (15 days). Teachers in the comparison group did not incorporate visual and performing arts into the delivery of curricular content, and students displayed their acquired knowledge through more traditional oral and written activities.

Support for implementation

The intervention was delivered by classroom teachers. All intervention teachers received 10 hours of formal training in professional development, which occurred several weeks before the study started. The training included reviewing activities that were designed for each day of instruction. The training also included simulation activities for targeted arts-integrated activities and science experiments. In addition to the training, intervention teachers received one-on-one coaching from the research team throughout the study. Intervention teachers received lesson plan guidebooks, student workbooks, and all materials needed to implement the sciences and arts-based activities. Laptops, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and music were also provided to intervention teachers as necessary.

 

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