Final answer:
Study skills training is the independent variable in an experiment that assesses its impact on academic achievement, with the academic achievement being the dependent variable.
Step-by-step explanation:
In an experiment to study the effects of study skills training on academic achievement, the study skills training would be the independent variable. This is because the independent variable is the factor that is manipulated or controlled by the experimenter to explore its impacts on the dependent variable. In this case, the academic achievement is expected to change as a result of the study skills training; hence, it is the dependent variable that the researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had.
In an experiment investigating the effects of study skills training on academic achievement, the independent variable would be the study skills training itself. The independent variable is the factor manipulated or controlled by the experimenter to observe its impact on the dependent variable.
In this scenario, the researcher administers or withholds study skills training to different groups (or conditions) to assess its influence on academic achievement—the dependent variable. Academic achievement is the outcome that the researcher measures to determine how much impact the manipulation of the independent variable, study skills training, has had on the participants.
This experimental design allows for the exploration of whether the implementation of study skills training leads to changes in academic achievement, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of such interventions in educational settings.