Virtual reality (VR) technology provides new possibilities for educators to design and optimize learning experiences. However, it remains largely unclear how virtual learning environments can be engineered to achieve measurable improvements in the learners' performance. To advance the development and application of VR learning technologies, we…

Many processes and practices in the field of health professions education have been based more on tradition and assumption than on evidence and theory. As the field matures, researchers are increasingly seeking evidence to support various teaching and assessment methods. However, there is a tendency to focus on a limited set of topics, leaving…

The primary justification for school voucher programs in the United States has revolved around questions of efficacy, especially relative to student achievement outcomes. More recently, however, a series of studies revealed sizable negative impacts on students enrolled in voucher programs. Collectively, these studies presented an evidentiary…

One goal of the education doctorate is to prepare educational leaders who can use research-based evidence to solve complex problems related to education and improve lives. We recently completed a mixed methods study of four EdD programs that showed the kinds of experiences that encourage their graduates to use evidence. This paper uses qualitative…

Growing interest in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has led to emerging evidence implicating a role for oxidative stress. However, understanding the strength of this association is made challenging by the use of a variety of purported biomarkers of oxidative stress,…

Purpose: This article gives an overview of the successes and lessons learned to date of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), one of the leading organizations of the What Works movement. Design/Approach/Methods: Starting with its history, this article covers salient components of the EEF's unique journey including lessons learned and…

The present study examined whether a defense rebuttal expert can effectively educate jurors on the risk that the prosecution's fingerprint expert made an error. Using a sample of 1716 jury-eligible adults, we examined the impact of three types of rebuttal testimony in a mock trial: (a) a methodological rebuttal explaining the general risk of error…

In this chapter, we describe and compare the standards for evidence used by three entities that review studies of education interventions: Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, Social Programs that Work, and the What Works Clearinghouse. Based on direct comparisons of the evidence frameworks, we identify key differences in the level at which…

The demand for evidence-based instructional practices has driven a large supply of research on adolescent literacy. Documenting this supply, Baye, Inns, Lake, and Slavin's 2019 article in "Reading Research Quarterly" synthesized far more studies, with far more rigorous methodology, than had ever been collected before. What does this mean…

A major problem in human cognition is to understand how newly acquired information and long-standing beliefs about the environment combine to make decisions and plan behaviors. Over-dependence on long-standing beliefs may be a significant source of suboptimal decision-making in unusual circumstances. While the contribution of long-standing beliefs…

Institutional approaches to curriculum development often privilege outcome over process. This paper explores the use of an adapted Change Academy approach, originally developed for teams from different institutions, to supporting teams from different disciplines within the same institution. The approach was evaluated through analysis of the…

Although learning styles (LS) have been recognised as a neuromyth, they remain a virtual truism within education. A point of concern is that the term LS has been used within theories that describe them using completely different notions and categorisations. This is the first empirical study to investigate education professionals'…

This study examined elementary and secondary prospective teachers' (PTs') abilities to analyze a classroom lesson in order to make claims about student thinking around specific mathematical learning goals based on relevant and revealing evidence. Previous research suggests PTs have some skills in analyzing evidence but apply them inconsistently.…

Argumentation enables students to engage in real world scientific practices by rationalizing claims grounded in supporting evidence. Student engagement in scientific argumentation activates the negotiation process by which students develop and defend evidence-based claims. Little is known, however, on the intricate process and potential patterns…

In education, the field of implementation science is a discipline dedicated to supporting educators' use of evidence-based practices (EPBs) to improve school and student outcomes. As highlighted in previous columns in this series, school teams must thoughtfully consider how EBPs align with the school/district core values and fit the local context…