Concentration tests on originals under deliberate distractions, with and without unusual distraction conditions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 7 studies (5 causal, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 design), q1–q3 · 1 of 7 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

To test concentration, the article proposes timed work on originals requiring concentration under definite distractions such as the ticking of a metronome, the reading aloud of an interesting book, or a recitation conducted in the same room, repeated over time with originals of about the same difficulty, to see whether the time required diminishes as geometry study proceeds, with parallel non-geometrical exercises and no-distraction counterparts.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Originals used across administrations should be of about the same difficulty and familiarity of principle involved

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• high school geometry students and same-grade pupils not studying geometry

Target Learning Goals¶

• concentration

Affordances¶

• Three Lines Geometry Experimental Investigation

Claims¶

• Interesting but irrelevant details can impair comprehension and transfer, with effects that vary with the material and the learner [~S]
• A WestEd research bulletin reports a curriculum revision that replaced a decorative photograph in a math problem with a problem-relevant sketch, on the developers' view that such photographs distract students [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Paired reasoning tests in geometry and in other subjects to detect transfer of logical ability
• Timed tests for knowledge of geometry fundamentals: naming figures, defining and illustrating terms, and giving hypotheses or conclusions of propositions

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• William H. Metzler. (1912). Problems in the Experimental Pedagogy of Geometry. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0070947