[Do we want to know what we are doing? The evidence-basedness of educational interventions]

Educational practice is characterised by fashion, myths und traditions. Studies examining the efficacy of educational interventions are rare.

We studied which educational interventions in the field of education and training have been evaluated in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) during the past three years.

Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, Psyndex, Psychinfo, and Education Research Information Center (ERIC). The database searches were limited to the RCT study design and trials published in German or English language for the period from January 2009 to February 2012. Studies with the following target groups were included: children, pupils, students, and employed persons; settings: pre-school institutions, schools, universities and universities of applied sciences, and settings of vocational or occupational education and training; interventions: educational interventions in pre-school institutions, schools, universities, universities of applied sciences and institutions of vocational or occupational education and training, as well as prevention programmes in schools and pre-school institutions. We excluded studies on patient education. The data collection was carried out using a data extraction sheet. Only predefined categories were used for the interventions. Further categories were developed in a second step. The following data were surveyed: target group, setting, type of intervention, country, institutions conducting the studies, and funding. Sample size calculations were documented to survey the quality of studies. Frequencies were calculated for the categories.

259 RCTs carried out in 36 countries were included. About half of the educational studies (n=154) were initiated in the medical field. The majority of the 95 studies, which addressed pre-schoolers and pupils, studied prevention programmes (n=75). Only 16 out of 259 studies were conducted in Germany. Sample size calculations were reported in 85 studies.

As yet only very few RCTs of educational interventions have been conducted. In particular, this kind of study is lacking in Germany. The quality of the studies seems questionable. There is an urgent need for RCTs on educational interventions.