Background
What is the educational strategy questioned in terms of its effectiveness compared to direct instruction?
Discovery Learning
What process was used to distribute the children into either condition?
Randomization
What kind of instruction was found more effective for children when assessing science fair posters?
Direct Instruction
What grades were the children in?
Grade 3 and 4
What is the specific scientific concept the experimenters are providing instruction on?
Control-of-variable strategy
Which variable could the children could adjust to either high or low?
The steepness of the ramp
What type of instruction should teachers use based on this research?
A mixed approach of teaching
What was being evaluated by the children on the second day?
Science-fair posters
What broad skill do the authors of the study hope to impact though the teaching methods they are evaluating?
Real-world skills (e.g. evaluating other scientific research -- science-fair projects)
What was the process used to control for order / carryover effects?
Counterbalancing
What type of instruction makes it easier for children to become CVS masters?
Direct Instruction
What does CVS stands for?
Control-of-variable strategy
What is the focus of this study?
Comparing the effectiveness of discovery learning vs direct instruction in science education, particularly in learning the control of variables strategy (CVS)
What action was done by the experimenter to control for potential differences in reading ability during the science-fair poster evaluations?
The experimenter read the posters aloud to the children
What type of instruction used to learn CVS helps children make better scientific judgements?
Mastering CVS, regardless of the instruction type
Whose study was the theory-evidence gap a part of?
Dean & Kuhn (2006)