What is evidence-based education? And how does it work? Two good questions. Some quick answers, with examples, guidance and real help can be found at http:cem.dur.ac.ukebeuk This is a teacher-friendly website put together by Robert Coe at the University of Durham. One gem to be found there is a TERSE report (Towards Experimental Research Syntheses in Education) on a controlled experiment showing that young primary children remember more of a story told at the end of the day than if they hear it first thing.
Another highlight is an online calculator that helps you work outwhether differences between your control group and your experimental group really do amount to anything significant.
And if you’re not too sure about what sorts of experiments you could be trying out, Robert Coe has plenty of suggestions at http:cem.dur.ac.uk ebeukresearchagenda.htm I was interested in his idea that schools can influence parents’ involvement by sending out different kinds of information, and would like to experiment with this.
Sam Saunders Readers can email suggestions on future Internet Insights to Sam Saunders at JPSaunders@leeds.ac.uk
