The need for evidence in education

In this article a plea is made to use evidence in education. A remarkable difference in attitude is noted between university staff in their role as scientists in their discipline and in their role as teachers. Whereas evidence is the key to guide scientists in the development of their discipline, evidence on teaching and learning hardly affects their role as teachers. Teaching is, rather, dominated by intuition and tradition. However, particularly in education, intuitions and traditions are not always correct when they are submitted to empirical verification. It even often turns out that our intuitions are not justified or that assumed relations are far more complex. To illustrate the fallacy of our (implicit) intuitions and beliefs, a few of these assumptions are held against the available evidence. Two assumptions related to the learning of students and two assumptions related to the assessment of student achievement are discussed. The illustrations make clear that we do need to use evidence in education, just as we do in any other professional area. Being a professional teacher requires more than being an expert in a content area; it also requires familiarity, use, and perhaps production of educational evidence and theory.