{"id":538,"date":"2022-09-26T15:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/?p=538"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:52:34","slug":"misleading-headline-or-i-snagged-a-live-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/?p=538","title":{"rendered":"Misleading Headline or I snagged a live one!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjTMEXfnlPgqganqu8hpJPsGppe7jXNANIcR6uU8F26yrkApUt1OC4u9H_uSzA1pFjm25HkYOSQWFlsDwlQHJvkeQ90hUc6hNaKYM0Gw8YCBTU-KrSCSAQH2V4-_BbgH5P-UA9Z8Op2HW_M0_Eh8LIIYJxP4BoZLhT0KmLKcckO8PGoNX11o4MWNPqM\/w640-h640\/Misleading%20Headline.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em;margin-right: 1em\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image of headline with text: How VR lessons increased chemistry test scores by 68 % in a leading Estonian grammar school. Further text indicates that is a misleading headline and that a better headline would be Learners learn after learning.\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1200\" data-original-width=\"1200\" height=\"640\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjTMEXfnlPgqganqu8hpJPsGppe7jXNANIcR6uU8F26yrkApUt1OC4u9H_uSzA1pFjm25HkYOSQWFlsDwlQHJvkeQ90hUc6hNaKYM0Gw8YCBTU-KrSCSAQH2V4-_BbgH5P-UA9Z8Op2HW_M0_Eh8LIIYJxP4BoZLhT0KmLKcckO8PGoNX11o4MWNPqM\/w640-h640\/Misleading%20Headline.png\" width=\"640\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 640px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 640\/640;\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Oh, I snagged a live one! I really didn&#8217;t think this image would garner much attention as my posts rarely do on these topics. 2022 has been a bad year for <i>keeping<\/i> XR friends.<\/p>\n<p>But I&#8217;ve been contacted directly by a nice LinkedIn link.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left\">Incoming message<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">(DM&#8217;ing instead of commenting on your recent post here.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">&nbsp;Why are you distorting the facts? <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">The article says:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The survey revealed that students showed an average of 68 %<br \/>\nimprovement in a test taken after learning with Futuclass VR lessons<br \/>\ncompared to the results before the 30-minute VR lesson.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This is very different from &#8220;started from zero and learned 68 out of 100<br \/>\n percent&#8221;.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">The source is here, wasn&#8217;t hard to find. <a class=\"app-aware-link\" href=\"https:\/\/futuclass.com\/blog\/how-VR-lessons-increased-chemistry-test-scores-by-68-percentage\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/futuclass.com\/blog\/how-VR-lessons-increased-chemistry-test-scores-by-68-percentage\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">And looking up the teacher involved, quoted in the article, she has<br \/>\nmultiple publications at hard science institutions at Tallinn<br \/>\nUniversity. I somehow doubt she&#8217;d agree in your assessment on her<br \/>\nscientific rigor. <a class=\"app-aware-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.etis.ee\/Portal\/Persons\/Display\/95da33ee-9b4c-4e72-9cab-3e72e3791c0c\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.etis.ee\/Portal\/Persons\/Display\/95da33ee-9b4c-4e72-9cab-3e72e3791c0c<\/a>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">I&#8217;m all for criticizing messaging and methodology of these &#8220;research&#8221;<br \/>\nreports, but when you skew the actual facts you&#8217;re undermining your own<br \/>\npoint.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left\">So, my response:<br \/> <\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">Good sleuthing!&nbsp; I like that you want to look at the actual numbers.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">I did so. I did read the article before I made my post.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">May I direct to a<br \/>\n few more sentences lower down in the article?<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nSome of these will be confusing, so by the end of this, we&#8217;ll have to<br \/>\nlook at the entire article and not just stick with exact sentences.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">Here is the one you quoted and I do see it:<br \/>\n&#8220;As a result, students showed an average of 68 % improvement in a test<br \/>\ntaken after learning the metal oxides during a 30-minute lesson using VR<br \/>\n compared to the results before.&#8221;&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">This one is not clear what &#8220;<i>to the results before<\/i>&#8221; is actually referring<br \/>\n to. Could it be referring to: other teaching, to non-teaching, to<br \/>\n&#8220;before&#8221; teaching?&nbsp; I read further down in the article to find out.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">This appears to be describing more of the method: &nbsp;After testing<br \/>\ndifferent approaches, the best results proved to be with group work and<br \/>\npaper worksheets. Students with VR headsets were expected to communicate<br \/>\n what was going on and solve the worksheets together with the students<br \/>\nwithout the VR sets.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">I thought that was interesting because it implies other approaches that<br \/>\nbut that this one was settled on and it included a non-tech component<br \/>\n(paper worksheets).<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">The next sentence is problematic: &#8220;Several studies have revealed that<br \/>\nfirst-hand experience is four times more effective than traditional<br \/>\ntheory learning. \u201cI believe that we should mix the experience from VR<br \/>\nequipment and practical work and this would be effective learning,\u201d<br \/>\nadmits Katrin Soika.&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">It quotes &#8220;four times more effective than traditional learning theory&#8221;.&nbsp;<br \/>\n The &#8220;four times&#8221; is clued me in. The statement implies that VR is 4<br \/>\ntimes as better than traditional teaching. This is debunked research (by<br \/>\n me).&nbsp; If it referring to the PwC study (<a class=\"app-aware-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.5discovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/pwc-understanding-the-effectiveness-of-soft-skills-training-in-the-enterprise-a-study.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.5discovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/pwc-understanding-the-effectiveness-of-soft-skills-training-in-the-enterprise-a-study.pdf<\/a><br \/>\n ), that study had learning take place in 1\/4 the number of minutes that<br \/>\n a classroom equivalent would have taken. Those are not apples to apples<br \/>\n comparison, but it was published by PwC that they thought VR was, then,<br \/>\n 4x as effective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">Here is where we get to what the 68% was actually measuring: &#8220;With VR<br \/>\neducation, learners are inspired to discover for themselves. Students<br \/>\nhave an opportunity to learn by doing rather than passively reading or<br \/>\nlistening. After the VR chemistry lessons students were surveyed about<br \/>\ntheir experience and the results were significant. The survey revealed<br \/>\nthat students showed an average of 68 % improvement in a test taken<br \/>\nafter learning with Futuclass VR lessons compared to the results before<br \/>\nthe 30-minute VR lesson.&#8221;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">In that paragraph, it becomes clear that the 68% was the &#8220;average&#8221;<br \/>\nimprovement **compared to the results before the 30-minute VR lesson**. &nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">That&#8217;s why I wrote: Learners learn after learning.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">The 68% was the<br \/>\nscore that they received (on average) after engaging in a learning event<br \/>\n &#8211; in this case &#8211; the 30 minute VR lesson. &nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;text-align: left\">So that&#8217;s why I wrote what I wrote.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nDo you think I missed anything else quantitative in the article?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>_ _<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">The source isn&#8217;t here<\/h3>\n<p>About &#8220;the source isn&#8217;t here&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s purposeful from me. I&#8217;m not out to point out the company or publisher&#8217;s name or link my comments with them on the LinkedIn network &#8211; especially when I have something negative to say. I let my hashtags carry the weight of passing my opinion around my network:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"break-words\"><span><span dir=\"ltr\"><a data-attribute-index=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=xr&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#XR<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=vr&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#VR<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=vreducation&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#VREducation<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=vrforgood&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#VRForGood<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=edtech&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#edtech<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=chemistry&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#Chemistry<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=chemistryishardigetit&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#ChemistryIsHardIGetIt<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=vrforlearning&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#VRForLearning<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=readcarefully&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#ReadCarefully<\/a> <a data-attribute-index=\"9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/hashtag\/?keywords=writebetter&amp;highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6978343430586261504\">#WriteBetter<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Note: this article came to me<i> via<\/i> my LinkedIn network &#8211; via 2 friends, actually. So I&#8217;m only recirculating my opinion back out and NOT pointing out the article, company, or researchers.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, I posted to LinkedIn one image and one line of text &#8220;Let&#8217;s be careful out there&#8221; (a reference to the TV show Hill Street Blues). That&#8217;s it. I didn&#8217;t include a link.<\/p>\n<p>_ _<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">The researcher&#8217;s qualifications<\/h3>\n<p>About the comment about the researcher&#8217;s qualifications: I don&#8217;t actually think the researcher\/educator whose experience is IN this article <i>wrote<\/i> this article. There is no author quote, so I&#8217;d have to go with someone at Futuclass wrote this. I say that because some of the quotes for the researcher are put up close to sentences on something different&#8211; and thus, it doesn&#8217;t make sense in terms of writing. Usually evidence supports a claim, not says something very different and off tangent.&nbsp; By the way, when I see this, I always try to figure in possible changes in translation between languages.&nbsp; For example, could this article have been originally written in Estonian and then translated to English and thus some things just don&#8217;t sound like native English?&nbsp; Yes, that&#8217;s possible. However, the problems I see in the writing are more along the lines of illogical ideas or &#8220;pushed&#8221; writing (advertising) than straight research.&nbsp; So that would not invade actual word-for-word translations, but it would remain at the sentence &amp; paragraph level- which is what I think I see.<\/p>\n<p>Here is an example:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mb-3 block\">Several studies have revealed that first-hand<br \/>\nexperience is four times more effective than traditional theory<br \/>\nlearning.  \u201cI believe that we should mix the experience from VR<br \/>\nequipment and practical work and this would be effective learning,\u201d<br \/>\nadmits Katrin Soika.<\/p>\n<p>So the quote shows that Katrin wanted a mix of technology and practical work to create effective learning. That seems to be her point.&nbsp; But the sentence just before makes the (wild) claim of the four times (but I&#8217;m not sure what of four times).&nbsp; So the ideas don&#8217;t connect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mb-3 block\">BTW, the link to her qualifications is in another language. Regardless, I respect that she might have done some nice work here. Actually if you look at her quotes in isolation AND look at the &#8220;other properties&#8221; section &#8211; particularly with reference to chemistry education &#8211; I think that this educator is cooking with gas, as in, she&#8217;s doing well.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\"><span class=\"mb-3 block\">Conclusion<br \/><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"mb-3 block\">Overall my opinion is that I wish the &#8220;other properties&#8221; section would have actually made the headline and NOT the quantitative data. There is some really good stuff there. It has been 5 days since this interaction and no follow-up response from my link. \ud83d\ude1f<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mb-3 block\">This is just another case of&nbsp; if it looks too good to be true (68% improvement!!), it probably is.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n&nbsp; Oh, I snagged a live one! I really didn&#8217;t think this image would garner much attention as my posts&hellip;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/?p=538\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Misleading Headline or I snagged a live one!&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,270,269,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bad","category-futuclass","category-if-it-looks-too-good-to-be-true","category-research","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":540,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions\/540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}