Overview
Unfortunately, research on classroom instruction and its outcomes is undoubtedly in a state of severe stagnation. The majority of teachers judge the usefulness of research very negatively; protagonists of basic psychological research despise this kind of research (cf. Shulman, 1981). Even among educational psychologists, field research on regular instruction within natural classrooms is “out” since the rise of the cognitive paradigm with its focus on microprocesses rather than on products. Furthermore, it is becoming more and more difficult to get permission for empirical investigations in schools.
The goal of this article is not to add an additional point to the many theoretical considerations of the well-known “research into practice” problem in educational psychology (cf. Shulman, 1981; Weinert, 1994). Rather, the present article focuses on a specific domain, namely research on classroom instruction and its effects, and the goal is to show how future empirical research on classroom instruction could overcome some of the shortcomings that may be responsible for the present state of the art. It is argued that it is neither necessary nor fruitful to totally abandon the field but that it is worthwhile to improve the underlying research strategy substantially. This shall be demonstrated by a comprehensive longitudinal school study, conducted by the Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research, and directed by Franz E. Weinert and the author.
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Helmke, A. (2001). Research on Classroom Instruction and Its Effects — Shortcomings, Dead Ends, and Future Perspectives. In: Salili, F., Chiu, C.Y., Hong, Y.Y. (eds) Student Motivation. Plenum Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1273-8_16
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