Robert L. Bangert-Drowns

The Instructional Effect of Feedback in Test-Like Events

Feedback is an essential construct for many theories of learning and instruction, and an understanding of the conditions for effective feedback should facilitate both theoretical development and instructional practice. In an early review of feedback effects in written instruction, Kulhavy (1977) proposed that feedback’s chief instructional significance is to correct errors. This error-correcting action was thought to be a function of presentation timing, response certainty, and whether students could merely copy answers from feedback without having to generate their own. The present meta-analysis reviewed 58 effect sizes from 40 reports. Feedback effects were found to vary with control for presearch availability, type of feedback, use of pretests, and type of instruction and could be quite large under optimal conditions. Mediated intentional feedback for retrieval and application of specific knowledge appears to stimulate the correction of erroneous responses in situations where its mindful (Salomon & Globerson, 1987) reception is encouraged.

The Effects of School-Based Writing-to-Learn Interventions on Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

Since the early 1970s, many educators have touted writing as a means of enhancing learning. Several reasons have been suggested for this purported enhancement: that writing is a form of learning, that writing approximates human speech, that writing supports learning strategies. Alternatively, some researchers have cautioned that the educative effects of writing may be contingent on the contexts in which it occurs. The research on writing’s effects on learning is ambiguous. This meta-analysis of 48 school-based writing-to-learn programs shows that writing can have a small, positive impact on conventional measures of academic achievement. Two factors predicted enhanced effects: the use of metacognitive prompts and increased treatment length. Two factors predicted reduced effects: implementation in Grades 6–8 and longer writing assignments

Effectiveness of Mastery Learning Programs: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of findings from 108 controlled evaluations showed that mastery learning programs have positive effects on the examination performance of students in colleges, high schools, and the upper grades in elementary schools. The effects appear to be stronger on the weaker students in a class, and they also vary as a function of mastery procedures used, experimental designs of studies, and course content. Mastery programs have positive effects on student attitudes toward course content and instruction but may increase student time on instructional tasks. In addition, self-paced mastery programs often reduce the completion rates in college classes.

The Effects of School-Based Substance Abuse Education — A Meta-Analysis:

Since the late 1960s, evaluators have examined the use of school-based alcohol and drug education programs as a means of substance abuse prevention. Narrative reviews of these evaluations agree on two points. The evaluations are generally of poor quality and they do not provide evidence that substance abuse education reduces drug use. This study used meta-analysis to review a carefully selected sample of evaluations in this area. Outcomes of thirty-three evaluations were statistically integrated. The meta-analysis showed that typical substance abuse education had its most positive effects on knowledge and attitudes, but was unsuccessful in changing the drug-using behaviors of students. Attitudinal effects were significantly higher when peers were used as instructional leaders and when group discussion was part of the instructional method. Furthermore, students who volunteered for substance abuse education reported lower drug use after treatment than did students who were required to participate in such programs.

The Word Processor as an Instructional Tool: A Meta-Analysis of Word Processing in Writing Instruction

Word processing in writing instruction may provide lasting educational benefits to users because it encourages a fluid conceptualization of text and frees the writer from mechanical concerns. This meta-analysis reviews 32 studies that compared two groups of students receiving identical writing instruction but allowed only one group to use word processing for writing assignments. Word processing groups, especially weaker writers, improved the quality of their writing. Word processing students wrote longer documents but did not have more positive attitudes toward writing. More effective uses of word processing as an instructional tool might include adapting instruction to software strengths and adding metacognitive prompts to the writing program.

Effects of Frequent Classroom Testing.

ABSTRACT The educational effects of frequent classroom testing have been studied and discussed since the early part of this century. Testing advocates have suggested that more frequent classroom testing stimulates practice and review, gives students more opportunities for feedback on their work, and has a positive influence on student study time. Reviewers of relevant research and evaluation literature, however, have expressed uncertainty about whether such benefits are actually realized in classrooms. The present review distinguishes research on frequent classroom testing from research in two related areas, research on adjunct questions and research on mastery testing, and provides results from a meta-analysis of findings on frequency of classroom testing. The meta-analysis showed that students who took at least one test during a 15-week term scored about one half of a standard deviation higher on criterion examinations than did students who took no tests. Better criterion performance was associated with...

Effects of Coaching Programs on Achievement Test Performance

This article presents results from a meta-analysis of findings on the effectiveness of coaching for achievement tests. The data for the meta-analysis came from 30 controlled studies of coaching programs. In the typical study, the effect of coaching was to raise achievement test scores by .25 standard deviations. Effects varied, however, with the level of the training intervention. They were smaller for short test-taking orientation sessions, larger for more extensive programs of drill and practice, and largest in a single lengthy program designed to improve broad cognitive skills. Effects also were related directly to the number of contact hours in the coaching program.

Effectiveness of Technology in Precollege Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The first major applications of scientific technology to education were made by psychologist B. F. Skinner three decades ago. In the years since, the emphasis in instructional technology has shifted from programmed instruction to individualized systems of teaching to computer-based instruction. These three approaches show different degrees of promise as aids in precollege mathematics and science classrooms. Programmed instruction and individualized instruction have had only limited success in raising student achievement or improving student attitudes in precollege education. Computer-based instruction, on the other hand, has raised student achievement significantly in numerous studies, dramatically affected the amount of time needed for teaching and learning, and greatly altered student attitudes toward the computer.

Misunderstanding Meta-Analysis:

Although it is increasingly common, metaanalysis is still a relatively new addition to the toolbox of research strategies. Partially because of its newness and partially because its early enthusiasts may have overstated its presumed contributions, a number of common misunderstandings have developed about the meta-analytic approach. These misunderstandings have to do with the way that metaanalysis is conducted and interpreted and its relation to primary research and narrative review. This article aims to highlight these misunderstandings and offer an alternative view of meta-analysis. It is hoped that metaanalytic research of the future will be a partnership with primary research and that metaanalysis will be valued not so much for its definitiveness as for the creative speculations it allows about patterns that appear across studies.

Assessing the Design of Instructional Software

AbstractThe EDUCOM/NCRIPTAL Higher Education Software Awards program was established to foster the development of high-quality instructional software. Achieving this goal entails the creation and dissemination of criteria for software evaluation, identification of specific software of sound design, and the granting of rewards to developers who might not otherwise receive support for their work. This article describes the rationale for procedures and evaluative criteria used in the first year of the awards program. The criteria constitute a coherent and theoretically grounded evaluative framework for software developers as well as researchers and educators who study or select educational software.