Introduction to research: Side-effects of your intervention

What's the idea? When deciding whether to implement a teaching strategy or intervention, you should take into account any potential adverse side effects – alongside the reported benefits (Zhao, 2017). What does it mean? In his work, Zhao uses the Cambridge Online Dictionary definition of a side effect as ‘an unwanted or unexpected results or condition that comes along with the desired effects of something’. It’s important for practitioners who are using evidence to consider side effects for three reasons: To make sure you don’t adopt teaching strategies that do more harm than good. So you can minimise any negative side effects that interventions may entail. So you can make an informed choice about an intervention when deciding whether to use is (based on Zhao, 2017). What are the implications for teachers? Be aware of overconfidence. As (Kahneman et al., 2011) point out, when making decisions, we are prone to overconfidence, planning fallacies and optimis