Limitations & Weakness

The fact that one vocabulary test is being used to separate students is not a truly reliable source. Another possibility is that students could be separated into group A or B by taking an average of two or more vocabulary tests. Another weakness is the fact that students are given a word list to study on their own and not reviewed throughout normal classroom interactions or lessons.

Although their will always be a flaw in any experimental design, the truth is that as an educator, it will become more evident as to which study strategy is more successful among a group of students. It will also become more clear as to which study strategy is the least successful of all three.

For future references, students coming into the fifth grade could be tested using this or a similar research design. Students with lower scores could be put into a group where they are introduced to a variety of learning strategies that will help them have a more successful school year.