Search results for: Empirical research

The current paper investigates, both theoretically and empirically, the political dimensions of teacher learning. The authors examine this issue through a theoretical work on teacher professional vision, and an empirical study of video-based teacher professional development.

The review explored 57 post-1990 empirical studies of school size effects on a variety of student and organizational outcomes. The weight of evidence provided by this research clearly favors smaller schools. Students who traditionally struggle at school and students from disadvantaged social and economic backgrounds are the major benefactors of smaller schools. Furthermore, most contemporary studies have concluded that small schools are more efficient or cost-effective. Small secondary schools manage to graduate a significantly larger proportion of their students than do large secondary schools.

Student response system (SRS) technology is one of many tools available to help instructors create a rich and productive learning environment. The authors describe a study designed to measure the effect of an SRS on student interest and retention. Two sections of an undergraduate management class participated in this study. Section 1 served as a control group by participating in a typical class without SRS; section 2 used SRS throughout the semester to facilitate active learning. Results indicate that although the classes were comparable at the onset of the semester, those students who used the SRS as an integral part of the classroom reported greater interest in the class and higher expectations of success, performed better on a midterm exam, and more importantly, performed better on a knowledge-retention test administered at the end of the semester. The authors argue that SRS technology can have beneficial outcomes for student performance and knowledge retention.