Brokering knowledge from laboratory experiments in evidence‐based education: The case of interleaving

Rowlandson, Paul; Simpson, Adrian

Abstract

The turn to ‘evidence‐based education’ in the past three decades favours one type of evidence: experiment. Knowledge brokers ground recommendations for classroom practice on reports of experimental research. This paper distinguishes field and laboratory experiments, on the basis of control and precision of causal ascription. Briefly noting problems with knowledge brokers’ extrapolating from field experiments, the paper's main focus is on extrapolating from laboratory experiments, using the case of ‘interleaving’. It argues that knowledge brokers often extrapolate from laboratory experiments as if they are field experiments. By considering both laboratory and ‘extra‐lab’ interleaving studies, it suggests that an alternative extrapolation—creating laboratory effects in the classroom—has little pedagogical value. The conclusion suggests focussing on mechanisms, contexts and outcomes as a more useful basis for brokering pedagogical knowledge from laboratory experiments.

Citation

Rowlandson, P., & Simpson, A. (2024). Brokering knowledge from laboratory experiments in evidence‐based education: The case of interleaving. British Educational Research Journal, 50(5), 2461-2479. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4037

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 16, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 31, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-10
• Deposit Date: May 17, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2024
• Journal: British Educational Research Journal
• Print ISSN: 0141-1926
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3518
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 2461-2479
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4037
• Keywords: evidence informed practice, knowledge exchange
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2442988