Research Design in schools and colleges across America, learning is frequently measured by testing students. Consider this hypothetical illustration: A teacher wants to find out whether a new teaching strategy would enhance student performance more than the old teaching strategy. The teacher designed a simple study, incorporating the old strategy with half of the students in the class, and the new strategy for the other half of the students. On the first day of class, the students were randomly allocated to groups. There were no significant differences among groups prior to the study. After three months, students were tested and student performance was compared between the two groups.
a. By using this illustration, identify the independent variable(s) and the dependent variable(s).
b. By using the APA ethical guidelines as a resource, what are the ethical issues which require to be considered before conducting this study?
c. Based on the reading from the textbook and your own research, what other techniques could this teacher have used in order to research the efficiency of the new teaching strategy?