experiments

• What are some areas that can be investigated using experiments in education?

  Teacher Expectations, Classroom Interaction, Labelling, Pupil’s Self Concepts, The self-fulfilling prophecy
• What was the main focus of Harvey and Slatin's (1976) study?


  To examine if teachers made assumptions about pupils based on their social class
• How many teachers participated in Harvey and Slatin's study?


  96 teachers
• What did Harvey and Slatin find regarding the ratings of lower-class children?


  Lower-class children were rated less favourably, especially by more experienced teachers
• What does the finding of Harvey and Slatin's study suggest about teacher expectations?


  It suggests that teacher expectations can be influenced by social class, leading to biased judgments
• What was the focus of Charkin's (1975) experiment?


  To observe how teacher expectations affected their body language towards a student
• How many university students participated in Charkin's study?


  48 university students
• What were the three groups in Charkin's experiment told about the boy they were teaching?


  One-third were told he was motivated/intelligent, one-third he was poorly motivated with a low IQ, and one-third received no information
• What did Mason (1973) find regarding the impact of negative expectations on teacher perceptions?


  Negative reports had a far more significant impact on teacher expectations
• What are the potential problems with lab experiments in schools?


  • Ethical issues with using real pupils
  • Narrow focus on specific aspects of expectations
  • Practical problems due to complex school environments
  • Inability to study large-scale factors
  • Artificial environment affecting validity
• What ethical concerns arise from using real pupils in lab experiments?


  Deceiving them or experimenting without their consent is a major issue
• What is a limitation of the narrow focus in lab experiments like Charkin's?


  Findings can miss the 'big picture' and not focus on the effect on pupils' performance
• Why are practical problems significant in lab experiments conducted in schools?


  Schools are large, complicated environments with many variables that are hard to control
• What is a drawback of conducting experiments in artificial environments?


  They tell us little about real-world scenarios
• What was the focus of Rosenthal and Jacobson's (1968) study?


  To study teacher expectations in a real educational setting
• What was the outcome of Rosenthal and Jacobson's study regarding the 'spurters'?


  'Spurters' improved their IQ by four points more than their peers
• What is a strength of field experiments like Rosenthal and Jacobson's?


  They have a broader focus and study both expectations and effects on pupils
• What ethical problems were associated with Rosenthal and Jacobson's experiment?


  It disadvantaged 80% of students who received less attention and required teacher deception
• What validity issue did Rosenthal and Jacobson face in their study?


  They did not observe classroom interactions to show how expectations changed student-teacher interaction
• What considerations should be made when designing an experiment for education?


  1. Topic selection and rationale
  2. Choice between field or lab experiment
  3. Strategies to avoid ethical and practical problems
  4. Methods to ensure valid data collection