Philosophy of Education - Assignment Example

Being young kids and curious, excluding them from such participation may instigate hatred and as such; I can include them but protect them in the project by altering the activities they participate in and excluding their data. For example, I will prohibit Janice from the playdough activity.Module 10 The study on Math Fluency: Accuracy versus Speed in Preoperational and concrete Operational first and second-grade children utilizes a quasi form of experimental design. This is because the study contains aspects of both qualitative and quantitative experiments but lacks proper experimental controls that can make the researcher draw firm comparisons.

Strengths of quasi-experimental design It is easier to generate experimental results for general trends in circumstances where randomization and pre-selection of groups are difficult using a quasi-experimental design. From the basis that most quasi-experimental designs are integrated with individual case studies; results and figures obtained often affirm the findings and deductions made in a case study and therefore, permit a statistical analysis to take place. Since quasi-experimental designs do not need extensive randomization and pre-screening, they cut down on both the resources and time required to carry out an experiment.

How to improve this design Such a quasi research design can be improved through ensuring that proper statistical tests are carried out and proper randomization is done. It is necessary to incorporate control factors that might have had effects on experimental results.Module 11 Since this research design entails an explicitly proven hypothesis: stress processing abilities influence reading development in a second, stress-based, language, with supporting statistical analyses in the form of tables, bar graphs, and other statistical diagrams, it is clearly a true experimental design.

Strengths of this study Such an experimental design eliminates the possibility of arguments with regard to the results since they can be statistically analyzed. It is possible for another research to repeat the same experiment and validate the experimental design results.Weaknesses of this design While this experimental design might in principle appear to be perfect, in practice the conditions under investigation are not in most cases under complete control. For instance, for behavioral biologists and psychologists, there is no guarantee that a living organism or a human being will portray behavior regarded as normal under experimental conditions.

This, in essence, makes one doubt the reliability and validity of experimental results of a true experimental design. The accuracy attached to results in true experimental design makes it hard to either accept or reject the hypothesis being tested since the standard conditions necessary for proof can not be easily attained. True experimental design can be improved by altering necessary conditions for control set up to acceptable practical levels.Module 12 Both mean and median are measures of central tendency, while the median is the middle value of a set of observations arranged either in ascending or descending order, the mean of such a set of observations is computed by finding the average of these observations (Sowell 2001).

In addition, while it is a necessary condition to organize a set of observations either in ascending or descending order so as to obtain median, this is not necessary for finding mean. A researcher would report on the mean in order to provide an average observation that demonstrates the validity of the results based on the data collected. Reporting on the mean is essential in data analysis because it can be used to predict how skewed data is. This is essential in determining the reliability of observations made.

Module 13 It is difficult to use inferential statistical measures in a classroom-based on an action research project because it is not possible to determine the extent to which the difference in the mean can be for it to be considered as statistically significant. Besides, using such inferential statistics measures presents hardships in determining both the rules and procedures to be utilized to carry out a classroom action research-based project. When changing the project to utilize different inferential measures such as ANOVA and t-test, it is necessary if not necessary to change the research design to ensure that means for two groups are statistically significant in order to come up with the conclusion in favor of the alternative hypothesis.

Module 14 It is necessary to share and discuss the results of an action research project with colleagues in order to establish the accuracy and reliability errors. This could be a result of the use of wrong statistical tests or as a result of the use of two groups whose means are statistically insignificant. Such a discussion that reveals such inconsistencies will assist in correcting the mistakes in the results and analysis of data obtained.