Bowen, Astrid Erica June (2025) Evaluating educational interventions : an exploration of the interface between academic research and commercial intervention provision. MPhil thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Bowen A, final thesis for library.pdf - Full Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 31 January 2026. Download (4MB) |
Abstract
This thesis presents research conducted during a collaborative research partnership between a research institution and a commercial educational intervention company in the United Kingdom. Five studies were conducted between academic years 2021-2023. Four studies constituted a mixed-methods evaluation of process and impact in two educational interventions for students in Key Stage 2. The fifth study used semi-structured interviews to examine how a global sample of commercial intervention providers perceive the role of academic research in their work. The main intervention evaluated was Project HE:RO, a school-based multi-pronged health mentoring programme targeting struggling students. The evaluation concluded that a) Project HE:RO was effective at improving participants’ self-reported well-being scores across the academic year under usual circumstances, and b) aspects of the intervention can be optimised to support outcomes, including the quality of staff recruitment and training. A secondary evaluation of a pilot multi-pronged cognitive training programme for students in Year 5 (Intervention Beta) found no significant effects of intervention condition on students’ cognitive test scores nor teacher-rated academic progress. Interviews with intervention company leaders identified perceived benefits to engagement with academic research, including the ability to attest to intervention quality, demonstrate impact on outcomes, and practice responsibly. However, evaluations of their own interventions were perceived as risky due to the high time and fiscal costs required for uncertain gains. Recommendations for improving research engagement included establishing longer-term research partnerships, using client-centred approaches to flexibly adapt research methods to the needs of the individual company, and giving companies the tools to self-monitor and evaluate. Overall, this thesis contributes to understanding how research processes meet educational practices through a) the evaluation of a complex practitioner-developed intervention, and b) exploration of how a particular type of educational stakeholder – commercial intervention developers – engage with academic research evidence and processes.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2025 15:13 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Aug 2025 15:05 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/56053 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00056053 |
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