Validation of the Instructional Strategy Diagnostic Profile (ISDP): Empirical Studies. Final Report.

Abstract : Three experimental studies were conducted in real-world settings in an attempt to validate the ISDP and its accompanying design prescriptions. Two different methods were used. In the first, existing instructional materials were modified on the basis of a selected prescription that resulted from an ISDP analysis of those materials. Two or more versions were compared in an experimental comparison. Method two consisted of course intervention in which a weak unit of an existing course was identified and modified via several prescriptions resulting from ISDP analysis. Test performance, affect, confidence, and time were compared for students using the revised materials and students using the original materials. When used to revise existing materials, the ISDP prescriptions produced significant differences only in the 2nd study. Failure to find the predicted results may have been a result of confounding factors in the real-world experimental situations used. Other studies have demonstrated that existing materials revised according to ISDP prescriptions can be demonstrated to produce significant increases in student performance especially if the interaction with the materials can be controlled and the tests can be revised to more adequately measure concept classification and rule-using behavior.