Ninth-grade students in a Productive Failure design scored significantly higher than Direct Instruction students on complex systems explanatory knowledge about climate¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2017 · checked against its sources 2026-10-23 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i3 The PF experimental group scored significantly higher than the DI comparison group on complex systems explanatory knowledge (η² = .167), with a significant main effect of teacher experience but no significant interaction. → Jacobson 2017

Evidence¶

Jacobson 2017¶

Jacobson, Michael, Markauskaite, Lina, Portolese, Alisha, Kapur, Manu, Lai, Polly, & Roberts, Gareth (2017). Designs for learning about climate change as a complex system. Learning and Instruction, 52, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.03.007

q2 · i3 · causal · r2

Two-way ANCOVA on post-test complex systems explanatory knowledge with treatment group and teacher experience as factors and pre-test as covariate, in a quasi-experiment with 110 Year Nine students (56 PF, 54 DI). The treatment main effect was significant (η² = .167) as was teacher experience (η² = .115); the interaction was not significant.

"For complex systems explanatory knowledge, a two-way ANCOVA found that there was a significant main effect for the experimental treatment group (F(1,105) = 21.126, p < .001, = .167), a significant main effect of teacher experience (F(1,105) = 13.601, p < .001, = .115)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• PF and DI groups showed no significant difference in climate declarative knowledge gains — related
• PF students scored significantly higher than DI students on climate explanatory knowledge — related
• PF students outperformed direct-instruction students on conceptual understanding and transfer without compromising procedural fluency — a broader claim this one bears on
• PF students did not outperform DI students when learning social science research methods in two quasi-experimental studies with 10th graders, failing to replicate the STEM-domain PF effect — related
• PF students scored significantly higher than DI students on near transfer (butterfly effect problem) — related
• PF students scored significantly higher than DI students on far transfer (robot mining problem), with an independent teacher experience effect — related
• Both one-model and two-model productive failure groups significantly improved weather and climate declarative knowledge, with no difference between conditions — related
• Both treatment groups significantly improved climate explanatory knowledge, with no reliable condition or teacher-expertise differences — reports the opposite
• Both treatment groups significantly improved complex systems explanatory knowledge, and students taught by the content-expert teacher learned more than those taught by less expert teachers — related