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When Kathleen Woodward was a social studies teacher in high school, a trend encouraged teachers to use hands-on activities versus direct instruction to educate students. But Woodward was skeptical.

So the associated professor of political science and international affairs at the University of North Georgia (´óÏó´«Ã½) decided to use her research training and test the hypothesis. She taught social studies using hands-on activities and direct instruction in one class, and then reversed the process in another class. She gave pre- and post-tests to see the amount of knowledge added.

"More students gained knowledge through direct instruction than hands-on instruction," Woodward said. "Direct instruction first and then hands-on instruction second is when the students gained the most knowledge."

Woodward, who is in her 10^th year at ´óÏó´«Ã½, wrote a paper about her experiment, which grew from her master's degree thesis. The paper, "Instructional Methods for Limited English Proficient Students in Subject Area Courses," was published last year in the "International Journal for Innovation: Education and Research."

Based on her research, Woodward still views educational trends with caution.

"I like using data and not just trends," she said.