HOPE – Dr. Bobby Hart, superintendent of the Hope Public Schools, in collaboration with Dr. Warren G. Ortloff and Dr. Mei Jiang at Texas A&M University-Commerce, has co-authored an academic study of “project-based learning” which is now published in the National Forum of Applied Educational Research Journal – Online.
“The Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning and Traditional Instruction in Relation to 11th Grade Literacy” was published in Volume 32, Number 3, 2019, online.
“I want to thank Dr. Bobby Hart, Dr. Warren Ortloff and Dr. Mei Jiang for their scholarly contribution to the academic literature,” Dr. William Kritsonis, editor-in-chief of National Forum Journals said. “Their article addresses the important challenges of curricular reforms and the expectations to advance learner outcomes through Project Based Learning.”
The basis of the Hart-Ortloff-Jiang research addresses the question whether curricular reforms such as PBL are superior compared to traditional instruction by comparing PBL and traditional instruction scale scores on standard end-of-course literacy tests required of 11th grade students in Arkansas. Control measures in the study account for race, gender and socioeconomic status.
The study looked at test data from two years of traditional instruction followed by two years of New Tech Network PBL curriculum instruction and the data that resulted.
Hart-Ortloff-Jiang took that data and interpreted it in the article to explain findings that suggest that PBL does not increase mean scale scores over those of students taught through traditional instruction, according to the National Forum.
“Our national referees praised the article as having practical value and national impact,” Dr. Kritsonis said.
Dr. Hart said that the research article was strenuously peer reviewed.
“It is a special honor to have my work published by the National Forum of Applied Educational Research,” he said. “The research was reviewed by a group of professors from nine states, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, and from Canada.”
Hart said a limited number of research articles are published by the National Forum.
“The forum publishers only accept nine percent of the work that is submitted to them,” he said. “The co-authors deserve much of the credit, and their willingness to assist on this project was critical to the publication.”
The complete article may be accessed at www.nationalforum.com online.