While there is a direct correlation between the number of

Question

While there is a direct correlation between the number of hours spent studying and the corresponding academic improvement, the platform on which these hours are spent can have a significant impact on the academic outcomes. To compare the academic improvement provided by Khan academy - an online K12 portal that teaches using audio-visual lessons – with that of a non-adaptive book-based learning system, one group studied using Khan academy, while the other group studied using traditional textbooks in a quiet closed classroom devoid of any electronic equipment. Both groups followed this method of studying within their respective rooms for two hours every day. After one month, the group that studied using Khan academy had improved a lot more than the one that used textbooks. Therefore, when a similar amount of time spent is considered, learning a piece of content using audio visual modes of instruction is much more effective than simply reading the same content.

Which of the following statements, if true, throws doubt on the notion that the audio-visual mode of instruction indeed was the reason for the better learning displayed by that group in the experiment?

A. Students who studied books for one hour and then spent time on Khan academy reported much higher academic improvement than students of either group.

B. Most students can focus on learning for more than one hour only if their study sessions are interspersed with short breaks in which they can play video games commonly found on most online AV sites.

C. When studying online at home, some students tend to visit other websites reducing the effective time to study drastically.

D. Most audio-visual modes of instruction cannot provide insights that the best instructors do.

E. The ability to assimilate multiple pieces of content and draw inferences is a much better indication of academic achievement than simply learning a piece of content.

Namk1993 · Accepted Answer

Conclusion:-For learning a piece of content, audio visual modes of instruction are more effective than simply reading the same content.

A-This choice is irrelevant. In the question stem there are two groups. One that used audio visual content and the other that used only textbooks. This choice brings in an another group which did both. Hence is wrong

B-This is the correct answer. If most of the students can learn only when they take short breaks in which they play video games, then it means that the second group that used textbooks only was not able to focus on learning while the first one which used online portal may have got that breaks in between lessons. So the final result may have been due to the reason of the breaks rather than the use of audio visual content. Thus it weakens our conclusion. Hence correct

C- Irrelevant
D-Out of focus

E-This is also irrelevant. We need to weaken the claim that audio visual content is more effective than reading in 'learning' the content. While this choice talks about indication of academic achievement which is not the issue at hand. Also we cannot infer from the stem that reading actually leads to the ability to assimilate pieces of content and draw inferences. Hence this is also wrong

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SonalSinha803 · Answer

A. Kind of trap, it says both are equally important.

B, C, D, irrelevant

E. Yes. This specifies that academic improvement should be measured by another metrics, instead of just learning content.

IMO E.

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balaji4799 · Answer

Very interesting question where a seemingly out of scope option is the right answer. The question stem mentions the words ‘if true’. That means though the options doesn’t appeal realistic to us we should consider those options for analysis.Upon scanning the options, one could easily eliminate options A and C. Option E talks about the quality of learning which I don’t think the argument is aiming to address. It may be the case that even though both sets of students truly understand what learning entails there were differences between them. Option B, though seems out of scope actually fits the bill. If it’s true that better learning happens only with such online Games where class room students didn’t get access to then B will be right answer.

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push12345 · Answer

Good question

B is the OA.
we need to find an choice which needs to state that there is some other reason for improvement by students who take online class of Khan academy.In short Khan academy is not sole reason,there has to be something different from textbook readers which result in more result for online students.

B clearly states that thing as they can focus more by playing video games in interim online which enhances their concentration resulting in better results.

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vasuca10 · Answer

Experts  broall   sayantanc2k   mikemcgarry   GMATNinja   egmat   VeritasPrepKarishma

Please guide for this question

seed · Answer

Hope you don't mind me explaining before the experts

Which of the following statements, if true, throws doubt on the notion that the audio-visual mode of instruction indeed was the reason for the better learning displayed by that group in the experiment? - Basically we need to weak the argument that "AV is the only/sole reason for better learning of students using AV mode". Prethinking - If both AV & Text books students spend equal amount of time, there has to be another reason for AV students learning better. May its their knowledge grasping power/environment/something helping the AV students more that text book students. A.Students who studied books for one hour and then spent time on Khan academy reported much higher academic improvement than students of either group. - Incorrect. We are concerned about AV mode of learning not AV+Text. B.Most students can focus on learning for more than one hour only if their study sessions are interspersed with short breaks in which they can play video games commonly found on most online AV sites. - Correct. If both set of students can focus for only 1 hr then Text book students don't have anything to relax/chill. Whereas the AV students can play some games to relax and get their focus back on study. So, it weakens the argument. Basically this statement is saying that AV is not the only reason which helps students to perform but games also helps them.Note that Text book students also get breaks but they have nothing to do during breaks. C.When studying online at home, some students tend to visit other websites reducing the effective time to study drastically. - Incorrect. Then how come they are performing well? D.Most audio-visual modes of instruction cannot provide insights that the best instructors do. - Incorrect. Irrelevant. E.The ability to assimilate multiple pieces of content and draw inferences is a much better indication of academic achievement than simply learning a piece of content. - Incorrect. That is why AV is doing well.

harshanitr · Answer

pl clarify why B is true and Not E.

kornn · Answer

Dear  AjiteshArun ,

Can you give me some insights on why A. is wrong and B. is right?

67% of students got it wrong! There must be some points missed by many students here.

Thank you in advance!

DarkHorse2019 · Answer

Solution   by eGMAT

Passage Analysis
 
 While there is a direct correlation between the number of hours spent studying and the corresponding academic improvement, the platform on which these hours are spent can have a significant impact on the academic outcomes .
The passage starts with the mention of the relation between amount of time spent studying and the amount of academic improvement displayed.
According to the author, there is a direct correlation between these two parameters.
However, the author also adds that the platform on which the studying is done also has a significant impact on the academic improvement.

To compare the academic improvement provided by Khan academy - an online K12 portal that teaches using audio visual lessons – with that of a non-adaptive book-based learning system, one group studied using Khan academy, while the other group studied using traditional textbooks in a quiet closed classroom devoid of any electronic equipment.

An experiment was conducted to compare the academic improvements provided by two platforms – Khan academy and a non-adaptive book-based learning system.
Khan academy is an online portal that teaches using audio visual medium.
One group of students studied using the first platform – Khan academy while the second group of students studied using the traditional textbooks.

Both groups followed this method of studying within their respective rooms for two hours every day. 
Both groups studied in their respective closed classrooms that were devoid of any other electronic equipment.

After one month, the group that studied using Khan academy had improved a lot more than the one that used textbooks. 
According to the experiment results, the group that studied using Khan academy showed a higher academic improvement.

Therefore, when a similar amount of time spent is considered, learning a piece of content using audio visual modes of instruction is much more effective than simply reading the same content. 
The author concludes that audio visual mode of instruction is more effective than a traditional book-based instruction.
Essentially, the author presents information about an experiment between two platforms and his conclusion based on the experiment results:

An experiment was conducted to compare the learning provided by Khan Academy with the learning provided by traditional books.
Khan academy is an online portal that provides an audio visual instruction.
One group of students studied using Khan academy while the second group of students studied using traditional textbooks.
They studied continuously for two hours every day in their respective classrooms.
These rooms are essentially closed environments without any additional electronic equipment.
After following this suit for a month, it was observed that the group that studied using Khan academy showed a higher academic improvement.
On the basis of these results, the author concludes that audio visual instruction is more effective than traditional books.
Now that we are clear with the passage, let’s move to the next step.

Pre-Thinking

Question Statement Analysis

Which of the following statements, if true, throws doubt on the notion that the audio visual mode of instruction indeed was the reason for the better learning displayed by that group in the experiment?

The question stem clearly asks us to weaken the author’s argument.

So, the conclusion is: The audio-visual instruction led to the better learning displayed by the first group of students in the experiment.

Thought Process
Weaken Framework 
What will make me believe less in the conclusion that  The audio-visual instruction led to the better learning.

Given that
One group of students studied using Khan academy while the second group of students studied using traditional textbooks.
They studied continuously for two hours every day in their respective classrooms.
These rooms are essentially closed environments without any additional electronic equipment.

Let’s understand the author’s reasoning:

The author concludes that audio-visual instruction led to the better learning displayed by one group of students because he thinks that this is the only difference between the two groups.
However, what if there was some other factor in the experiment that was accessible only to the first group of students that could have helped them gain better learnings in the given duration?
Clearly, such information will make us believe less in the causality concluded by the author.
Similarly, what if there was some other factor in the experiment that negatively impacted only the second group of students, leading them to not being able to study effectively?
Clearly, such information will make us believe less in the causality concluded by the author.
With this understanding, let’s now move to the option choice analysis.

Answer Choices 
 A.  Students who studied books for one hour and then spent time on Khan academy reported much higher academic improvement than students of either group.

This option statement is incorrect.

This option talks about a different group of students – students who used both platforms – Khan academy and traditional books. It says that such students showed significantly higher academic improvement. So, this option choice is not related to evaluating the current argument.

B.  Most students can focus on learning for more than one hour only if their study sessions are interspersed with short breaks in which they can play video games commonly found on most online AV sites.

This option choice is in line with our pre-thinking and is the correct answer.

This choice indicates that the group of students who utilized Khan academy had access to such refreshing short breaks using which they could effectively utilize their study time whereas the students utilizing the books for studying did not have access to such facilities. This makes us believe that the lower improvement through books is because of lower effective time spent when learning from books and makes us believe less in the author’s conclusion that it is the AV instruction that led to the better academic improvement.

C.  When studying online at home, some students tend to visit other websites reducing the effective time to study drastically.

This option statement is completely irrelevant to the argument.

It talks about studying online at home – i.e., not pertinent to the experiment setup. So, the information provided in this scenario is not pertinent to the conditions of the experiment or the results of the experiment. Therefore, this choice cannot affect the author’s reasoning.

D.  Most audio-visual modes of instruction cannot provide insights that the best instructors do.

This option statement is also completely irrelevant to the argument.

The choice compares the audio-visual instruction with instructors. However, the argument is concerned with the comparison between audio-visual instruction and books. Clearly, the comparison presented in this choice is irrelevant to the author’s conclusion.

E.  The ability to assimilate multiple pieces of content and draw inferences is a much better indication of academic achievement than simply learning a piece of content.

This option statement is not correct.

It talks about the kind of indicators for academic achievement. However, the argument isn’t concerned with this aspect. It is neither concerned with academic achievement nor concerned with indicators for the same. It is concerned with academic improvement and whether audio visual instruction leads to a better academic improvement than traditional books do.

Robo_123 · Answer

KarishmaB  could you please explain this? Did not understand the question. TIA

sheershamg · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja   broall   sayantanc2k   mikemcgarry   GMATNinja   egmat   VeritasPrepKarishma  Can GMAT use abbreviations in the answer choices which are not mentioned in the question?

For Example Audio Visual was abbreviated as AV in the correct answer B. I reject B as there was no context for AV. I know it's just common sense for AV to be Audio visual but still.

While there is a direct correlation between the number of

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