Bridging Cognitive Science and Teaching Practice: A Proof of Concept Study of the Cognitive Instructional Techniques (CIT) Observation Instrument

Abstract

Elida V Laski

This paper presents the Cognitive Instructional Techniques (CIT) observation instrument – a novel tool to assess the degree to which teaching practice is congruent with instructional techniques that have emerged from cognitive science. The paper includes a description of CIT, the process by which it was developed, and initial findings related to its use. CIT includes a 0-4 rating scale (0 = not observed to 4 = high congruence) for eight instructional techniques: Anchoring, Guided Instruction, Multiple Representations, Quizzing, Self-Explanation, Signalling, Variable Practice, and Worked Examples. The instrument was used to code randomly selected videotaped 4th and 5th grade mathematics lessons in the USA (N = 42) selected from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project database (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2018). Results of this proof-of- concept study indicated that the CIT instrument captures variability as well as stability in teaching practice. Overall, teaching practice was found to be congruent with some instructional techniques advocated for by cognitive researchers (e.g., testing), but not others (e.g., self-explanation). For instance, half of the instructional lessons in the sample did not use multiple external representations to explain math concepts and less than a quarter demonstrated the use of multiple representations in a manner consistent with what research has identified as most effective. This initial study indicated the potential usefulness of the CIT instrument in determining the extent to which instructional practice is congruent with ideas from cognitive science. The ways in which CIT could create further intersections between cognitive science and education are discussed.

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