Using Child Actors in Educational Research: Teachers' Ability to Distinguish Authentic Responses From Actors' Responses

• In Event: Methodological Issues in Survey Data Collection and Analysis

Abstract

Measurement in education research has been criticized for either being far removed from the authentic experiences of teachers and students or so highly contextualized that important factors cannot be controlled for. One possible solution is to gather natural data in classrooms, then use actors to recreate the situations to control more factors. Actors, although used in psychological and communication research, have not yet been widely used by education researchers, perhaps because of concerns that teachers might easily distinguish between children authentically engaging in tasks and actors recreating task engagement. The purpose of this study is to determine whether teachers can accurately discern whether the child solving a mathematics task is the authentic student or an actor.

Authors

• Melissa A. Gallagher, University of Houston
  Presenting Author

• Morgan Love Michelle, University of Houston
  Presenting Author

• Shaimaa A. Scrivner, University of Houston
  Presenting Author