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Version 1.2 – Updated June 2023

Field independence

Overview

  • Influence: Field independence
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Prior knowledge and background
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to considerably accelerate
  • Influence Definition: A field independent learner is interested in abstract subject matter, learns individualistically, and thinks through problems impersonally. Such a learner is contrasted with a "field dependent" learner, who is more socially oriented, better able to discern the feelings of others, more dependent on others for feedback, and more in need of externally defined objectives.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 2
  • Number of studies: 46
  • Number of students: 4,423
  • Number of effects: 157
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.94
  • Robustness index: 2

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Instructional Media Baker & Dwyer USA Effect of Instructional Strategies and Individual Differences: A Meta-Analytic Assessment 2005 Field independent vs. field dependent 11 1,341 122 0.93
Dissertation Dragon Canada Field Dependence and Student Achievement in Technology-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis 2009 Field independence/dependence on achievement 35 3,082 35 0.94
TOTAL/AVERAGE 46 4,423 157 0.94
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