Basic vs. Applied Research in Educational Psychology

Basic Science

Goal: Understand knowledge about a topic for the sake of knowledge itself.

Applied Science

Goal: Study issues related to a topic in psychology/education to apply the findings to help solve problems.

Basic Science

Aimed at increasing the knowledge of a scientific field like psychology/education.

Applied Science

Aimed at solving practical problems or generating solutions that apply to real-world settings (teaching; classroom instruction).

Basic Science

Tends to be theory-driven or data-driven, often uses hypothesis testing, can help strengthen theories or develop new ones.

Applied Science

Real-world application of science to provide info that will help solve problems that have immediate practical consequences for children.

Basic Science

Focus on description.

Applied Science

Focus on change.

Example of Basic Science

How do students memorize vocab? How high can young children count at different ages?

Example of Applied Science

Spacing-out practice could help students learn better.

Experimental Group

80 5-year-olds in intervention study on analogical reasoning with 30 items.

Control Group

No feedback; after each selection, instructed to click 'next' button.

Performance Differences

Experimental Group did better than control group & responded more consistently.

The Scientific Method

Gather observations about the world, summarize observations with a small set of general statements (theory), use theory to generate predictions about some unobserved phenomena, conduct experiments to test prediction.

Empirical Generalizations

About observations of the world (here: how kids learn).

Theoretical Statements

Claims made about how students consistently think, feel, or behave in particular circumstances after observing different samples of students.

Epistemic Assumptions

Assumptions about the nature and scope of knowledge.

Utility of Empirical Generalizations

Of the 3 types of scientific statements, this has the most potential utility for educators.

Example of Empirical Generalization

Task performance improves with practice is a commonly accepted assumption about students that is useful for educators.

Empirical generalizations

Can help educators understand and predict how children might respond in given educational situations.

Piaget Conservation Tasks

Test a child's ability to see that some properties are conserved or invariant after an object undergoes physical transformation.

Issues with Empirical Generalizations

They might work most times but not every time for every student.

Guideline for educators

Consider a wide variety of factors that may influence learning in an educational context.

Theoretical Statements

Much more abstract & general statements compared to empirical observations.

Purpose of Theoretical Statements

Summarize & integrate many empirical generalizations and make new predictions about what might happen in novel situations.

Issues with Theoretical Statements

Some novel predictions from a theory will eventually be proven wrong as data accumulates & theory testing continues with time.

Epistemic Assumptions

Statements about the nature and thought of knowledge.

Examples of Epistemic Assumptions

"Learning is social," "Everyone learns differently," "Knowledge is constructed."

Issues with Epistemic Assumptions

Not proven and unlike empirical generalizations, not based on multiple observations of what kids actually do.

Distinguishing Between Empirical Generalizations

Often describe how two things go together & based on data.

Distinguishing Between Theoretical Statements

More general than empirical generalizations.

Distinguishing Between Epistemic Assumptions

Simple statements about the nature of learning or knowledge.

Big Takeaways for Teachers

Examine your beliefs as a teacher and consider whether your beliefs about how kids/people learn align with findings from basic science.

Lack of Basic Science

Doesn't mean practice is bad; likely won't be basic science research related to every instructional approach.

Keep Learning

Resources online; professional development workshops; webinars.