“Assessing the Impact of

Instructional Technology on
Student Achievement”

• Authors: Lorraine
Sherry, Shelley
Billig, Daniel
Jesse, and
Deborah Watson-
Acosta
• Reviewed By:
Rachelle Hayes

The WEB Project

• 5-year Technology Innovation Challenge
Grant
• Purpose: to infuse standards-based
instruction in 4 areas into general arts
and humanities curriculum
• Incorporated into 6 content areas
• Shared works in progress with virtual
community

1
 The Project’s Impact
• Sternberg: Connection between student
motivation, metacognition and learning:
processes

• Expertise = student achievement

measured by teacher-created rubrics

The Survey
• Used structural equation modeling
• Hypothesis: Motivation would drive
metacognition and metacognition would
drive thinking and learning processes
• 76 methods of data matched
• Result: Correlation does not imply cause
• Project had positive effects on student
achievement

2
 Conclusions
• Teachers should:
– emphasize the use of metacognitive skills,
application of skills, and inquiry learning as
they infuse technology into their content areas.
– Apply technology in assessing student learning
of subject matter
– Use technology resources to collect/ analyze
data
– Apply multiple evaluation methods

Conclusions (cont.)
• The Sternberg model may be replicable in
other educational institutions if teachers:
1. Clearly identify standards that are addressed
in their institution
2. Articulate the specific knowledge and skills
that are to be fostered by using technology
3. Carefully observe student behavior in creating
and refining work
4. Create and benchmark rubrics they intend to
use

3
 Rachelle’s Response
• Agrees highly with the authors’
interpretation of the findings because she
believes that:
– Technology needs to be integrated into every
curriculum.
– Using one evaluation method can be
dangerous for and biased against students.
– All good experiments can be replicable if the
stimuli and environment remain the same

Rachelle’s Response (cont.)

• Applications of this article:
– Encourages teachers to integrate technology
into their curriculum
– Proves that statistics can be useful in surveys
– Encourages teachers to emphasize certain skills
needed to maximize student achievement
• Article implies that psychology plays a
role in cognitive development

4
 Rachelle’s Opinion
• Changed my opinion:
– of psychology because
I used to think it was
useless, now I think it
serves a purpose
• Solidified my opinion:
– that statistics are
useful
– That technology
needs to be integrated
into the curriculum

Article Citation
Sherry, L., Billig, S., Jesse, D. &
Watson-Acosta, D. (2001). Assessing the
Impact of Instructional Technology on
Student Achievement. T.H.E. Journal,
28, 7.