Evidence Based Methods of Instruction (EBMI)
Empirical Evidence
Studies of children’s learning from mainstream, scientific journals do
not
always
support the kind of
generalizations made by
some
teaching methods enthusiasts
who may be more inclined to promote the more popular or the more 'trendy' of
available methods.
Strong evidence does exist however for
what we call the
‘evidence based alternative’;
evidence that has great validity (i.e., it means what you think it means)and which is easily replicated
(results are easily reproduced by other researchers).
In fact, the largest educational study
ever conducted, Project Follow Through, showed that evidence based
methods were more effective than other methods being championed at the
time. Similarly, renowned Harvard
scholar, Jeanne S. Chall, also reached the same conclusion when she reviewed the
research of the last century.
Project Follow Through
(verbatim excerpts and paraphrases from
Stone & Clements, 1998 and Matthews, W. J., 2003): ‘was begun in 1968 and
completed in 1995. Over 75,000 children from 170 different communities in the
United States participated in the largest, best-funded educational research ever
conducted. It was designed to
systematically evaluate different approaches to educating children who had been
assessed as being at risk of academic failure.
Nine models were compared in 51
school districts. Of the nine, seven were student-centered
(a.k.a.
'active learning).
The two models that used evidence based methods significantly
out-performed the student-centered models. Of greater significance, five of the
seven learner-centered models produced
worse results than the traditional school programs (i.e., the non-treated
control groups) to which each approach was compared. Outcome measures included
basic achievement measures and "higher-order" cognitive skills as well as
measures of self-esteem’ (c.f., Hirsch ‘96; Kozloff, ‘02; & Matthews, M. R.,
‘00).
Active Learning
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Of great importance to developing countries in
sub-Saharan Africa, both Project Follow Through as well as Chall’s
comprehensive review
both suggest the very real possibility that methods that
narrowly promote
the singular focus on keeping learners ‘active’
may actually be
detrimental to the educational progress of economically disadvantaged
children who prevail in developing nations.
In 2003, Richard Tabulawa of the University of Botswana complained of this
approach's wide-spread use and utter lack of
success.
And, in 2005, the World Bank reviewed the educational system of one African
country that has been using 'active' learning methods since shortly after its
independence. It
found this country’s education system, one of the better funded ones in
all of sub-Saharan Africa, wholly
lacking in desired learner outcomes.
Meta-Analyses
Seminal
review articles from the middle nineteen-seventies forward and major meta-analytic studies
(studies statistically summarized in a new study) of the
last two decades have also identified methods
that produce the greatest level of academic achievement.
About fifty (50) evidence based methods and fourteen ‘factors’ that
affect learning have been differentiated by World
Literacy Initiative and today are brought together as the elements comprising EBMI.
This list includes such things as:
» Identifying Similarities and
Differences
»
» Continuous Assessment
» Mastery Criteria
» Peer Partnering
» Keeping Learners Successful
» Parental Involvement
» Repeatable Opportunities
» Graded Homework with Teacher Comments
World Literacy Initiative
has successfully used EBMI with
primary school children in Malawi where a
two year exhibition of EBMI was conducted east southeast of Blantyre.
The
primary school was over-crowded, had no electricity, and no/few school
supplies. Children routinely
suffered from malaria and malnutrition and were under-prepared academically for
the grades they were in. Still, EBMI
was highly successful at a minimum nearly doubling learner performances
and at a best dramatically improved grade one school performance for girls.
World Literacy Initiative has also successfully used EBMI
to teach pre-service teachers in both Malawi and Namibia JAN 2003
– JUL 2006.
The success attained in
both countries adds weight to the conclusion that these methods will help
Africa improve its level of academic achievement, but only if they are used.
Summary
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Quality education cannot be
achieved by relying on a single theoretical view alone; one that is rigidly applied in
all or even in nearly all teaching situations.
Rather, selecting from an array of methods that are identified solely on the
basis of each method’s empirical
support; choosing from among them
according to the dynamic conditions of the learner interface
(e.g., the age/grade
level of the learner, their individual learning needs & histories, the curriculum being
taught, the environmental conditions and so on) will
produce better learning. By
adding these ‘missing’ methods to teachers’ repertoires in
developing nations, the
academic achievement of learners can and will greatly improve.
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Why Use The Term
Evidence Based?
The phrase ‘evidence based’ is preferred to other possibilities appearing
in the referenced literature (e.g., like ‘teacher led’ or ‘teacher directed’)
in order to minimize the possibility of confusing
the methods of EBMI
with
the out-moded “exhaustive reliance upon ‘chalk and talk’ and ‘rote memorization’
” ways of old.
Instead, evidence
based methods refer to the teacher ‘teaching’, showing students how to solve
problems, leading them through solutions, organizing pedagogy based on the
nature of the curriculum and the assessed needs of the learners and so on.
It also provides a self-descriptive reference as to
how these particular methods came to
be grouped together.
The phrase
‘evidence based’ though still growing
in use in the professional literature, is nevertheless used to promote an
unambiguous understanding of an engaged learner and a pro-active teacher.
