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Differential effects of traditional and constructivist instruction on students’ cognition, motivation, and achievement
Citation
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA, 2006
Abstract
This study examined the differential effects of constructivist and traditional instruction on students’ cognitive, motivational, and achievement outcomes in English classrooms, using a large representative sample of 3251 Grade 9 students from 117 classes in 39 schools. Results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) show differential cross-level effects: After controlling for students’ gender and socioeconomic status, constructivist instruction was a significant positive
predictor of students’ deep processing strategies, task values, and English achievement, whereas traditional instruction was a significant positive predictor of students’ surface processing strategies and a negative predictor of English achievement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the differential effects of constructivist and traditional instruction on multiple
outcomes, including students’ achievement and psychological processes that are important for learning.
Date Issued
2006
Project
Core - Panel 2