Eminent education researcher and author, Dr. Robert Marzano will conduct a large scale multi-year Action Research Study on Promethean’s Activclassroom beginning in the ‘08-‘09 academic year. The research question is simple, yet profound:

“What is the effect of the Promethean Activclassroom on student engagement and academic achievement?”

This question has already yielded a plethora of qualitative data, anecdotal reports and case studies evincing a compelling argument that Promethean’s learning environment does indeed improve authentic student engagement and student achievement. Recent research commisioned by BECTA in the UK has already shown the impact of the type of technology Promethean develops on student performance on standardized tests.

However, quantitative meta-analysis between control and experimental groups of learners, Dr. Marzano’s particular field of expertise, has not - until now - been attempted. As a company of educators for educators, Promethean is honored to take part in this ground breaking research effort in the USA.

While it has been painfully difficult to show empirically what seems so obvious to technology savvy educators, it begs the question: “Is the problem, that in the past, technology has not made much of an impact on the art of teaching and learning, or have we been asking the wrong research questions?”

Perhaps the answer is…both.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Marzano and he thoughtfully addresses this issue along with implementation details of the upcoming research study.

I hope you enjoy listening to the first of many such conversations with Dr. Marzano. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Click the player below to listen to the Podcast (19 mins):

If you are interested in taking part in research now or in the future, please make contact with your local Promethean Teaching and Learning Consultant (TLC) who can advise you.