Slice Up - The Thin Slices Technique: Application to classroom instruction and analysis of judgement processes

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The goal of the proposed project is to examine the applicability of a highly economical measurement approach – which has not yet been much used in instructional research – to the analysis of instructional quality variables. The thin slices technique (TST) is a method developed in personality research in which judges evaluate other persons on the basis of very short video clips (maximum five minutes). The application of the TST in diverse domains shows that it is possible to assess various person or interaction variables in a reliable manner although the judges have access to only very limited information and thus, only a first impression can be formed. Across various domains (e.g., social psychology, psychotherapy, organizational research, sports) these fast judgements show high reliability and practical relevance, for instance by predicting future events or behaviors. To date, the TST has hardly been used in educational contexts. This is surprising given the fact that especially in instructional research there is a high demand for objective, but at the same time economical methods to analyze instructional processes in the classroom. Several studies are planned to examine the following related research questions: (1) Can the TST be applied to assess those instructional processes that are relevant for learning and how accurate are the ratings gained from TST? (2) On which cognitive processes are the TST judgements based and which factors influence the ratings? The research program includes re-analyses from existing video studies, experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and a meta-analysis. If the application of the TST to the analysis of classroom instruction succeeds, this method could help to carry out research on the effects of instructional variables with larger samples as hitherto common in video studies and could also find practical use for example in evaluations or professional development courses for teachers.