Slice-Up – The Thin Slices Procedure: Application to Instruction and the Analysis of Judgement Processes

Project Description

The SLICE-UP research project is concerned with first impressions as a potential approach of the assessment of instructional quality. The so-called thin slices procedure (Ambady & Rosenthal) has already been applied in vari-ous fields of psychological research with many studies demonstrating high predictive validity of first impressions. In studies applying the thin slices procedure target persons’ behavioural tendencies and personality are usually judged based on short video clips (between five seconds and five minutes). In the area of research on instruction the application of the thin slices procedure can be seen as a potential eco-nomic alternative to the time-consuming and cost-intensive approaches of classroom observation which today are assumed to be the most appropriate way to assess instructional quality. The SLICE-UP project continues the research from a first project phase funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in which empirical evidence could be gathered demonstrating that thin slices ratings can assess aspects of instructional quality reliably and valid (see Begrich, Fauth, Kunter & Klieme, 2017; Begrich, Fauth & Kunter, 2020).SLICE-UP is a joint project between the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (Ma-reike Kunter) and the German Youth Institute (Susanne Kuger). By reanalysing existing data from different video-studies on instruction (TALIS, PERLE, Phi-Actio) we are going to examine the replicability of the results from the first project phase as well as gather further hints of validity of thin slices ratings of instructional quality. Addi-tionally, in different studies we plan to investigate cognitive processes underlying thin slices ratings of instruc-tional quality. Finally, we are going to conduct a meta-analysis to examine the state of research on the predictive validity of thin slices ratings across different research areas.

Project Objectives

1. Deepening exploration of the thin slices procedure as a potential approach of video-based assessment of in-structional quality.
2. Examination of cognitive processes underlying thin slices ratings of instructional quality.
3. Examination of the state of research concerned with the predictive validity of thin slices ratings across the vari-ous research fields.

Project Management

• Dr. Susanne Kuger
• Prof. Dr. Mareike Kunter

Project Team

Project Details