Module 1 - Effective Lesson Development Strategies for Rigorous Instruction

This week we found 5 different systematic reviews of meta-analyses. We evaluated each of these studies using the AMSTAR which is a tool that can be used to create a quantitative ranking of the quality of these papers. We were tasked with evaluating which factors most impacted diverse student learning and which predicted students success. 

These are the 5 articles I found: 

And this is the AMSTAR Chart for these articles:

	study 1	study 2	study 3	study 4	study 5
1. Clearly Stated Objectives	0	0	1	1	1
2. Comprehensive Literature Search	0.5	1	1	1	1
3. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria	1	1	1	1	1
4. Information Sources	0	1	1	1	1
5. Details of the Search	1	1	1	1	1
6. Selection of Studies	1	1	1	1	1
7. Data Collection	1	1	1	1	1
8. Appraisal of Study Quality	1	1	1	1	1
9. Data Synthesis	1	1	1	1	1
10. Risk of Bias	1	1	0	0	0
11. Publication Bias	0	0	0	1	1
12. Meta-Analytical Methods	0	1	0	1	1
13. Summary of Evidence	1	1	1	1	1
14. Strength of the Evidence	0	1	1	1	1
15. Applicability of the Results	1	0	0	1	1
16. Conflicts of Interest	1	0	0	0	0
total	10.5	12	11	14	14
rank	4	2	3	1	1

I was not able to get a subscription to the AMSTAR tool, and so devised my own system with 1 being assigned to studies that met criteria, 5 for partial, and 0 for studies which did not meet the criteria.  

Based on the results of this analysis, the most highly rated systematic review provided data supporting the use of 5E lesson planning. This has been a popular lesson planning strategy that my district has supported through professional development. It offers a lot flexibility which I think will help to meet the needs of diverse student groups. 

 I used this information to create a 5E lesson plan about energy which could be used in a middle school science classroom. There was a lot of detail to include in the lesson plan and research based data to support the instructional design choices. I can't imagine including citations in lesson plans on a regular basis, but it was fun to find out which methods are supported by data.