e-Learning and the Science of Instruction

CHAPTER 3 Evidence-Based Practice

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Instructional programs should be based on appropriate high-quality research, or what we might simply call good research. This statement is the guiding principle for evidence-based practice and is the basis for recommendations we present in this book. You might be wondering what constitutes good research and how you can recognize and use it. We address these questions in this chapter.

In particular, we describe the rationale for evidence-based practice in making decisions about instructional design, three approaches to research on instructional effectiveness, how to interpret experimental comparisons, how to interpret research statistics, and how to understand the boundary conditions of evidence-based recommendations.

Design Dilemma: You Decide

In your capacity as a training specialist, you have been asked by the HR director to develop a short online mini-course on sexual harassment that will be a required compliance course for all staff. The HR director hands you a two-page company document on sexual harassment and says: “We really need this lesson to go live right away, so please develop a short lesson that describes the ten main principles in this document. You can just describe each one on its own page.”

You are eager to get started, but you are a little uneasy. Isn’t there some research on how to teach material like this, you wonder. What should you do to plan out your e-lesson?

1. Follow the HR director’s instructions ...