The Impact of Teacher Preferences in Learning by Evaluating

Abstract

Peer review and the evaluation of samples are common tools used in education and our research has shown positive impacts on student learning through the intentional evaluation of samples as a priming exercise—an experience we have termed “Learning by Evaluating (LbE).” While previous work in design and technology (D&T) classrooms with LbE has demonstrated positive student learning gains, we have not yet investigated the impact of the classroom teacher on the effectiveness of LbE and student learning.  Therefore, our research sought to analyse the impact of a classroom teacher on student learning within a LbE experience situated in a D&T classroom. To better understand the impact the teacher has during LbE, multiple D&T classrooms engaged in LbE sessions were enrolled in this study. Each D&T classroom followed a similar protocol which had students engaged in an open-ended design problem who used LbE to evaluate samples of related work as part of their designing process. Specifically, we collected data from student LbE decisions to explore if students in different D&T classes valued different elements of the samples (e.g. did students in one class focus on aesthetics while students in another emphasized brevity in explanations). An online software platform (RMCompare) was used to engage students in LbE and collect both the quantitative data associated with the ranked preferences of the students and the qualitative data from their justifications for their selections. All students were enrolled in the same course, provided the same prompt to base their selections, and presented with the same samples.  Key findings—both similarities and differences—between classes will be shared in alignment with implications for design and technology classrooms.