Experimentation Critique
In viewing the field of education, the issue of students' lacking retention of material has long been associated with a teacher's inability to enforce learning materials in such a manner that every student within a class -- despite their own personal learning style -- retains the information presented to them in a way that aids in their academic proficiency, attitude, and memory of the information given them. Deveci (2003) defines the concept of differed learning styles as the difference between how students learn and what they learn, noting that only when different learning styles are utilized within the classroom, will students be able to take on a more individualized approach to their work that will aid in their overall academic achievement and success (Deveci, 2003, p.25).
The experiment presented by Guven and Yazicilar in a recent edition of the Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences aimed to present a solution to this problem by experimenting on the learner attitudes presented within a specific course along with measuring recall level and efficiency of the course at hand. In utilizing a 5th grade social studies course in elementary school, researchers sought to understand the differences between an experimental group and a control group of students in terms of attitude, retention, and overall success in terms of the use of specific teaching styles that were believed to more fully benefit the students at hand.
In utilizing teaching activities within the classroom that take into account the differentiating learning styles of the students at hand, experimenters hypothesized that the experimental group would surpass the control group in their academic proficiency level, in their attitudes toward the course, and in their level of memory storage (Guven and Yazicilar, 2009, p.2579).
Research and Experimentation Method
The experimentation method employed involved a control group pre-test and post-test model as well as an experimental group pre-test and post-test to identify how the application of teaching activities...
The model was applied in two classes at an elementary school, each of which was utilized as the experimental group and the control group respectively.
In order to gauge the students' initial capacity for learning before experimentation, students in each test group were given a 40-question proficiency test including four multiple choice questions based on a briefly-covered unit of their 5th grade social studies textbook entitled "Workers for the Society." In assessing the initial results, researchers then utilized lesson plans in each respective classroom. The control group underwent the standard teaching styles that had been utilized in the school previously, while the experimental group underwent teaching styles that had been modified in a manner that utilized group work and the focus on adapting to each child's learning needs rather than the standardized structure utilized in the control group. Upon completing these models of teaching at the end of the fall term, students were once again tested on the material they had learned. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the success of the control group and experimental group, with the experimental group achieving a better standard of success within the course along with a better capacity for retention of the material -- both results hypothesized by the experimenters. However, there was little difference between the two groups in terms of general attitude towards the course itself which deterred from the initial hypothesis.
Variables and Sampling Structure
In viewing the experiment at hand, the independent variable is the utilized teaching strategy that experimenters have utilized on the experimental group, while the dependent variables are the proficiency levels, attitude, and retention capacity that researchers…
