Very long-term retention of the control of variables strategy following a brief intervention

Robert F. Lorch; Elizabeth P. Lorch; Benjamin Freer; William J. Calderhead; Emily Dunlap; Emily C. Reeder; Jessica Van Neste; Hung Tao Chen

doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.09.005

Very long-term retention of the control of variables strategy following a brief intervention

Robert F. Lorch, Elizabeth P. Lorch, Benjamin Freer, William J. Calderhead, Emily Dunlap, Emily C. Reeder, Jessica Van Neste, Hung Tao Chen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Middle school students (n = 354) were tested for their understanding of the control of variables strategy (CVS) 2.5 years after participating in a study comparing three different interventions for teaching CVS. The key finding was that the pattern of effects observed in the 4^th grade continued to be observed in the 6^th grade. This was because (a) students who had mastered CVS in the 4^th grade were likely to continue to perform at mastery levels in the 6^th grade whereas (b) the learning of students who had not mastered CVS in 4^th grade was independent of the teaching intervention they had received in the 4^th-grade study. These findings demonstrate that a brief intervention of direct instruction in CVS can produce long-lasting learning of the principle of controlling variables.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	391-403
Number of pages	13
Journal	Contemporary Educational Psychology
Volume	51
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.09.005
State	Published - Oct 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Inc.

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (Grant R305H060150 ). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the U.S. Department of Education. We are grateful to the 6 th -grade teachers and principals of Beaumont Middle School, Edythe J. Hayes Middle School and Winburn Middle School in Fayette County, KY for their support of this research. We are particularly indebted to Lori Bowen for her time and enthusiastic support of our research efforts. Robert Lorch also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Scientific Council of the Midi-Pyrenees Region of France, the Laborataire CLLE-LTC and OCTOGONE Laborataire at the Universite de Toulouse – Jean Jaures.

Funders	Funder number
Scientific Council of the Midi-Pyrenees Region of France
U.S. Department of Education, OSERS	R305H060150
Institute of Education Sciences
Université de Toulouse

Keywords

Control of variables strategy
Inquiry in science
Retention of learning
Robust learning
Science education

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.09.005

Cite this

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title = "Very long-term retention of the control of variables strategy following a brief intervention",

abstract = "Middle school students (n = 354) were tested for their understanding of the control of variables strategy (CVS) 2.5 years after participating in a study comparing three different interventions for teaching CVS. The key finding was that the pattern of effects observed in the 4th grade continued to be observed in the 6th grade. This was because (a) students who had mastered CVS in the 4th grade were likely to continue to perform at mastery levels in the 6th grade whereas (b) the learning of students who had not mastered CVS in 4th grade was independent of the teaching intervention they had received in the 4th-grade study. These findings demonstrate that a brief intervention of direct instruction in CVS can produce long-lasting learning of the principle of controlling variables.",

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AU - Lorch, Robert F.

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AU - Freer, Benjamin

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AU - Dunlap, Emily

AU - Reeder, Emily C.

AU - Van Neste, Jessica

AU - Chen, Hung Tao

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N2 - Middle school students (n = 354) were tested for their understanding of the control of variables strategy (CVS) 2.5 years after participating in a study comparing three different interventions for teaching CVS. The key finding was that the pattern of effects observed in the 4th grade continued to be observed in the 6th grade. This was because (a) students who had mastered CVS in the 4th grade were likely to continue to perform at mastery levels in the 6th grade whereas (b) the learning of students who had not mastered CVS in 4th grade was independent of the teaching intervention they had received in the 4th-grade study. These findings demonstrate that a brief intervention of direct instruction in CVS can produce long-lasting learning of the principle of controlling variables.

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Very long-term retention of the control of variables strategy following a brief intervention

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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