Developing and Testing a Concept Inventory for Educational Gain

Michael Boyle (Student Success and Educational Engagement (AHC))

Project overview

This project explores educational gain and the hidden curriculum through the creation of a “concept inventory” – essentially a questionnaire where the incorrect answers (distractors) are not just incorrect but reveal misconceptions about a topic.

Educational gain is an important issue for the sector, and it is therefore essential to understand what students believe they will gain from university, and how these conceptions change over time.

I was interested in how a unique methodological approach could give unique insights into this issue, while also producing a potentially useful tool for the sector.

The research approach

Reviewing existing research on Educational Gain/Learning Gain and the Hidden Curriculum, and student conceptions thereof, will lead to an initial concept inventory.

This will then be workshopped with first- and third-year students. The resulting inventory will be distributed as widely as possible to students at the University of Leeds.

Following concept inventory design methodologies, the results from the students who have filled in the inventory, and their feedback, will be used to change and/or remove questions to produce a finished concept inventory.

Through these activities, we will gain a deeper understanding of students’ (mis)conceptions around Educational Gain and the Hidden Curriculum, as well as producing a tool which can be used by the sector to track these (mis)conceptions.

If you would like to find out more about the project contact Michael Boyle

Each fellowship has a project sponsor that helps the fellows achieve impact across the institution. The sponsor for this fellowship is Bee Bond

Project start date: September 2025