Educational Research and Reviews

  • Abbreviation: Educ. Res. Rev.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1990-3839
  • DOI: 10.5897/ERR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 2008

Full Length Research Paper

An educational dilemma: Are educational experiments working?

Serhat Kocakaya
  Department of Physics Education, Faculty of Education, Yüzüncü Yıl University 65080 Campus/Van, Turkey. 
Email: [email protected] ,[email protected]

  •  Published: 30 January 2011

Abstract

 

The main aim of this study is to investigate the biased effects which affect scientific researches; although most of the researchers ignore them, and make criticism of the experimental works in the educational field, based on this viewpoint. For this reason, a quasi-experimental process has been carried out with five different student teachers groups, to see the John Henry effect which is one of those biased artifacts. At the end of the whole process, it was seen that the John Henry effect plays a great role on students’ achievements. At the end of the study, experimental works were discussed on the basis of those artifacts and some recommendations were presented on how we can reduce the effects of those artifacts or how we can use them to get benefit for our experimental works.

 

Key words: Internal validity, bias effects, the John Henry effect.