Rsrh Methods in eEdutin - Outline Example

Rеsеаrсh Methods in e‐Eduсаtiоn Institution: Name: Date: Problem 2 – 25% You are preparing a proposal for a new research study in your elementary school on the topic of cheating. Before going ahead with the study you decide that you need to put together an ethics protocol form. a) Importance of an ethics protocol document for this study Ethic protocol is of importance in that researchers are made aware of the need of integrity alongside transparency in the process of research, and for those researchers who are aware of the ethics protocol it acts as a reminder. Thus the ethics protocol acts as a promise by the researchers to do their researcher at the required integrity level. b) Issues that need to be addressed in the ethics form. Among the issues addressed in an ethics form include that of integrity that is the level of integrity a researcher should maintain, another issues is how the research should be conducted in a manner that aligns with the ethics protocol and also the impact of violations of the same. Objectives of the research, how the data is to be collected that is if from individuals or primary data, how the data will be stored. c) Steps required seeking ethics approval. 1. One is required to fill in form 2. What follows after one has undertaken the step of filling in the form is that of going to the supervisor in order for him or her to review and decide if to grant the ethical approval. Attached when taking to the supervisor for approval should be the relevant documents for example the questionnaires or the consents form (Oppenheim, 1992). 3. The third step is appealing to the Ethics Committee faculty, in case one was unable to get an approval by the supervisor. 4. The other step is using amendments form to in case of changes to the project affecting ethics approval, of which one is required to gain consent of from the supervisor before starting on the work. d) Who should review the ethics documents prepared for your proposed research study? The ethics document should be reviewed by the supervisor since the consent before embarking on the document is given by the supervisor. Also the same supervisor is the one who grants ethical approval. e) Steps to take if someone objects to your study After the document has been taken to the supervisor for approval in case of any objections it’s taken to the committee of ethics attached with any document that is of relevance (Oppenheim, 1992). Problem 3 – 25% You have been asked to put together a questionnaire measuring attitude toward iPad use in your school. You want to be sure that your results are both valid and reliable (Oppenheim, 1992). a) Describe what is meant by validity in a research study. Provide an example of validity. Validity is used to in the determination of a research whether it has measured what was intended to be measured or how the research results truthful they are, (Braun, 1998). Example of validity is an inquirer persuading that the findings of a health research show that a given disease is pandemic thus worth for the audience paying attention to (Keeves, 1988). a) Describe what is meant by reliability in a research study. Provide an example of reliability. Reliability is a concept that is used in a way that pertains to qualitative research evaluation or testing with the idea normally used in a number of researches. Example is testing to products or services based on a research the import test between the two products as per the qualitative study is its quality. (Eisner, 1991). b) The differences between validity and reliability. Among the differences between validity and reliability include the following; for validity its purpose is determination of the relationship of cause and the effects while else for reliability its purpose is in the description of the process ongoing. Another difference is that validity variable independent that is controlled and manipulated while in the case of reliability a variable is not specific and independent. Also another difference is on the data collection where validity data collection is a requirement while for reliability data collection is not a requirement (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). c) An example of a measure that is reliable but not valid. A reliable measure that’s not valid example a study conducted on a particular race, gender, or a sub group in a given geographical location example Appalachia white females might not be applicable men in the northwest Hispanic that’s not a reliable measure that is valid (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). Problem 4 – 25% You have joined a research team that is putting together a proposal to study the effect of a new software application for use in the classroom. The software publisher claims that by using the software application as part of the regular curriculum learners will learn English vocabulary and grammar faster than without the use of the software application. The parents are very excited about this new software and the teachers are eager to try it out. The research team presents the following research design to you based on the models developed by Campbell & Stanley (1963): O1 X O2 (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). a) The design being proposed. The software is designed proposal is that it will improve the students skills in English since the students written English is to be placed in the software then, the software goes through the written work makes correction where necessary and suggests vocabulary words that best fit in the writing . The software also takes a look in the punctuation and makes corrections where necessary (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). b) Identify and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this design. Strengths of this design is that it’s able to through an entire document loaded on it and hence identifies grammatical, punctuation errors thus the student gets to learn through the corrections and also learns more vocabulary words. Among its weakness include takes some time as it goes through the documents thus the student is meant to wait, another weakness (Hopkins & Antes, 1990). c) Why might this study design not be the best choice? The design does not take into consideration other words such as the Latin universal words mostly used in medical terms thus, if a student is doing an assignment based on the medical field it will turn out to be having a number of errors though in real sense the not just because they are Latin words that’s why the will be error (Eisner, 1991). d) What study design would you recommend and why? I recommend a design that is universal in a way that is able to accommodate some the universal words used globally alongside English words for example the Latin words mostly used in science especially field of medics (Hopkins & Antes, 1990). e) Method of analysis. Analysis should on the basis of English performance of students using the software and students not using the software. Another analysis should be on the basis of number of students using the software and those not using the software in their studies thus able to be know the impact of the software on students and their studies (Eisner, 1991). Problem 5 – 25% The purpose of correlational research is to determine to what degree two variables are related. Mr. Anwar teaches English as a Second Language to grade 3 students in a suburban school. For the last month, Mr. Anwar has been testing out iPads equipped with specially designed applications for his class. He has just finished collecting the data through the use of a questionnaire given to the students (Eisner, 1991). All of the data from the questionnaires has been entered into a statistical analysis software package along with their quiz results. Mr. Anwar has the results of his analyses but he is not sure how to interpret them (Braun, 1998). The results are presented below: Analysis 1: “Amount of time working on collaborative projects” and “Enjoyment”, rxy = .63, p < .001. Analysis 2: “Familiarity with the iPad” and “Achievement”, rxy = .72, p < .05. Analysis 3: “Amount of time using the iPad” and “Amount of time working on homework”, rxy = ‐.60, p < .01. Analysis 4: “Age of student in months” and “Enjoyment”, rxy = .15, p = .036. a) The results of the correlational analysis. Based on the analysis a majority of students use the iPad more often to do their collaborated projects compared to the case of the same students using the iPad for enjoyment that based on analysis 1. On the other hand familiarity of the students with the iPad is more as indicated by the variable representing it compared to variable of achievements. The amount of time used on working on homework by the students using the iPad is more compared to that of using the iPad by the student based on the data provided. The age of students in months is less compared to that of enjoyment (Braun, 1998). b) Conclusion based on these results. Most of the students use the specifically designed applications in the iPad for academic purpose compared to entertainment based on the analysis of the data provided since the variable representing the academic excises is higher compared to the entertainment part example is amount of time in home work doing and that of just using the iPad (Alkin, 1992). c) Advice to Mr. Anwar about the iPad use in his class. I would advise Mr. Anwar to embrace the iPad technology and get more applications for the students that will be of help in his subject since the students have demonstrated use of the iPad for majorly their academic work (Alkin, 1992). d) Provide a recommendation for further research. Mr. Anwar has tested the usage of the ipad on the various applications among students. I would therefore recommend further research on the various challenges and the solutions thereof among students when using the same. On identification of the problems encountered by students in the usage of the ipad, they should also be asked to suggest on the customized features that they would desire to have in the ipads (Alkin, 1992). References: Alkin, M. (1992). American Educational Research Association sixth encyclopedia of educational research. New York: Macmillan. Braun, S. (1998), International epidemiological association. A dictionary of epidemiology Studies. Oxford, Elsevier Science. Eisner, L. (1991), Academic Publishing International Ltd, Reading, UK info academic handbook. Oxford: Pergamon. Hopkins, C. & Antes, L. (1990). Classroom measurement and evaluation. Itasca, publishing.org Husen, T. & Postlethwaite, T. (1994). International Encyclopedia of Education: Illinois: Peacock. Keeves, J. (1988). Educational research, methodology and measurement. New York; NY: Oxford University Press. Oppenheim, N. (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing attitude measurement. London: Pinter. Wolf, M. (1991). Evaluation in education. New York; NY: Praeger. Read More

b) Identify and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this design. Strengths of this design is that it’s able to through an entire document loaded on it and hence identifies grammatical, punctuation errors thus the student gets to learn through the corrections and also learns more vocabulary words. Among its weakness include takes some time as it goes through the documents thus the student is meant to wait, another weakness (Hopkins & Antes, 1990). c) Why might this study design not be the best choice?

The design does not take into consideration other words such as the Latin universal words mostly used in medical terms thus, if a student is doing an assignment based on the medical field it will turn out to be having a number of errors though in real sense the not just because they are Latin words that’s why the will be error (Eisner, 1991). d) What study design would you recommend and why? I recommend a design that is universal in a way that is able to accommodate some the universal words used globally alongside English words for example the Latin words mostly used in science especially field of medics (Hopkins & Antes, 1990). e) Method of analysis.

Analysis should on the basis of English performance of students using the software and students not using the software. Another analysis should be on the basis of number of students using the software and those not using the software in their studies thus able to be know the impact of the software on students and their studies (Eisner, 1991). Problem 5 – 25% The purpose of correlational research is to determine to what degree two variables are related. Mr. Anwar teaches English as a Second Language to grade 3 students in a suburban school.

For the last month, Mr. Anwar has been testing out iPads equipped with specially designed applications for his class. He has just finished collecting the data through the use of a questionnaire given to the students (Eisner, 1991). All of the data from the questionnaires has been entered into a statistical analysis software package along with their quiz results. Mr. Anwar has the results of his analyses but he is not sure how to interpret them (Braun, 1998). The results are presented below: Analysis 1: “Amount of time working on collaborative projects” and “Enjoyment”, rxy = .63, p < .001.

Analysis 2: “Familiarity with the iPad” and “Achievement”, rxy = .72, p < .05. Analysis 3: “Amount of time using the iPad” and “Amount of time working on homework”, rxy = ‐.60, p < .01. Analysis 4: “Age of student in months” and “Enjoyment”, rxy = .15, p = .036. a) The results of the correlational analysis. Based on the analysis a majority of students use the iPad more often to do their collaborated projects compared to the case of the same students using the iPad for enjoyment that based on analysis 1.

On the other hand familiarity of the students with the iPad is more as indicated by the variable representing it compared to variable of achievements. The amount of time used on working on homework by the students using the iPad is more compared to that of using the iPad by the student based on the data provided. The age of students in months is less compared to that of enjoyment (Braun, 1998). b) Conclusion based on these results. Most of the students use the specifically designed applications in the iPad for academic purpose compared to entertainment based on the analysis of the data provided since the variable representing the academic excises is higher compared to the entertainment part example is amount of time in home work doing and that of just using the iPad (Alkin, 1992). c) Advice to Mr.

Anwar about the iPad use in his class. I would advise Mr. Anwar to embrace the iPad technology and get more applications for the students that will be of help in his subject since the students have demonstrated use of the iPad for majorly their academic work (Alkin, 1992). d) Provide a recommendation for further research. Mr. Anwar has tested the usage of the ipad on the various applications among students.

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