Is it Instruction or Feedback: A Replication Study of Wood et al (1978) about Adaptive Instruction for 3-Year-Olds

Abstract

Since the article of Wood et al. (1978) stated that adaptive instruction seems most effective, compared to other instruction types, adaptive instruction has been accepted as a key element for effective instruction. Therefore, Smit et al. (2021) have initiated an exact replication study. Looking at the design of both studies, feedback could be present in the instructional phase. Since feedback is considered a powerful influence on learning and performance, this could influence the participants performance. Using the data of Smit, this study examined if adaptive instruction is as effective as Wood found, or if the effect of instruction on the performance of three-year-old children, can be explained by the received amount of feedback. The instruction phase videos of 80 three-year-old children, that were randomly assigned to four types of instruction, were observed while building a pyramid with blocks. There was no significant effect of instruction on performance. Mediation analyses revealed a significant effect of instruction type on amount of feedback, but no significant effect of amount of feedback on performance. Therefore, feedback did not mediate the effect of instruction on performance. Although this is but one study that contradicts the findings of Wood, more empirical research is needed.