Effect sizes of biology conceptual change interventions were strongly influenced by sample size and publication bias¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q4
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i? The review found effect sizes were strongly influenced by the number of participants in the samples and by publication bias. → Aleknavičiūtė 2023

Evidence¶

Aleknavičiūtė 2023¶

Aleknavičiūtė, V., Lehtinen, E., & Södervik, I. (2023). Thirty years of conceptual change research in biology – A review and meta-analysis of intervention studies. Educational Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100556

q4 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

Meta-analytic finding from the review of 33 studies: the authors report that "the effect sizes were strongly influenced by the number of participants in the samples, as well as publication bias". Moderator analyses classified samples as small (below 60), moderate (61–120) and large (above 121).

"It was found that the effect sizes were strongly influenced by the number of participants in the samples, as well as publication bias."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Biology conceptual change interventions have been conducted at all educational levels, most commonly with upper secondary students, with a median sample of 78 participants — related
• Publication-bias tests found no evidence of substantial publication bias in the meta-analytic sample — reports the opposite
• The most effective biology conceptual change interventions dealt with more simplified phenomena such as the cardiovascular system — related
• Conceptual change interventions in biology produce large effects on conceptual understanding compared with traditional teaching, with refutational text the most effective single intervention type — related
• A striking number of biology conceptual change studies measured only superficial learning outcomes such as knowledge enrichment rather than knowledge restructuring — related
• Evolution is the most investigated topic and text-reading the most common intervention type in biology conceptual change research — related