StatisticsQuestions
Statistics
Question1 (a)
Thestandardized reading /language test scores of middle school studentswho create a narrated PowerPoint slide show about the slide they haveread will not be significantly higher than middle-class students whowere taught using traditional methods.
Or
Therewill be no significant difference between standardized readinglanguage/language test scores of students creating narratedPowerPoint slide show about a novel they read and those of studentswho were taught using traditional methods.
Question1 (b)
Independentt-test: – our main concern in this problem is to ascertain thedifference in scores between two groups of students. The independentt-test is suitable for this purpose because it evaluates thedifference between the means of the two groups. What is more, thegroups are unrelated in the sense that one group creates a slidepresentation in their learning while the other group relies ontraditional teaching. An independent t-test is sometimes calledbetween group designs because of its role in distinguishing betweengroups.
Inaddition, this investigation can be interpreted as a controlexperiment that seeks to explain the role of creating a PowerPointslide in understanding language. Researchers use the independentt-test to analyze the effect of a control variable on two sets ofpopulations.
Question1c
Giventhat our primary objective is to ascertain the difference between thetwo groups of students in terms of their scores in language testwhere one group created slides based on their reading and anotherrelied on traditional teaching. The independent t-test was selectedfor this purpose. The results obtained are T=5.52 (p=.03), and can beinterpreted as follows:
First,our null hypothesis can be represented statistically as
H0:µ1 = µ2 where µ1 stands for the mean for the first group and µ2stands for the mean for the second group.
Or-H0: µ1 – µ2 = 0
Thismeans that the hypothesis will hold true if the means of the twogroups are equal. Otherwise, the null hypothesis is false
Theresults of the independent t-test is 5.52 (p=0.3). To ascertain thetruth in the null hypothesis, our focus lies in the second part ofthe results i.e. P=.03. This is the probability that the t-value5.52, which represents the difference in mean happened by chance. Instatistics, a maximum acceptable probability of an event occurring bychance is 5%. In our case, the probability is 3% implying that thedifference in mean did not occur by chance, and therefore we rejectthe null hypothesis at 5% level of significance. By rejecting thenull hypothesis, the researcher implies that the two groups ofstudents scored different means (µ1 – µ2 = 5.52) because of thecontrol variable (Creating PowerPoint slides of the reading). Theimplication in education is that creating PowerPoint slides afterreading can improve student scores in language tests by approximately5.52%.
Question2
Theproposed project aims at improving the student overall achievement inmathematics. More specifically the project aims to: 1) increasescience scores on the state tests and (2) increase students’interest in science. In order to measure the attainment of theseobjectives, we shall conduct empirical research that will seek toascertain the benefits of the project particularly in regarding thetwo objectives. In this memo, we present the methods that will beused to measure the effectiveness of the project in attaining itsstated objectives.
Toascertain the level of attainment of the first objective i.e. “raisescores” objective, we shall compare the students’ scores instandardized math test both before and after participating in themath club program. By comparing mean scores for the students in thesetwo periods, we shall be able to see the difference and attribute, toa given level of significance, to the introduction of the program.Ideally, significant variation in mean will be attributed to mathclub program. To ascertain the level of attainment of our secondobjective i.e. the “enjoy math” objective, we intend to conduct asurvey to the math club students, their teachers and parents. Thesurvey will involve answering questionnaires structured on afive-point likert scale. The questionnaires will be customized forstudents, parents, and teachers basing on the role that each play inthe learning process.
Sincethe “raise score,” objective will rely on student test scores inmathematics, our investigation of this objective will be based solelyon quantitative research. The quantitative research is based onnumerical data i.e. data that is primarily in numbers and mainlyseeks to explain the occurrence of a given phenomenon. For thisinvestigation, our null hypothesis will be: The math’s club programhas no influence on student scores in standardized mathematicstastes. The data will be subjected to analysis using SPSS software toobtain descriptive statistics such as mean and median.
Thesecond program objective will be measured through qualitativestudies. Qualitative research relies on people`s feeling and opinionabout something, in this case about the math club program.Questionnaires and interviews will be used to collect qualitativedata from students, teachers, and parents. Content analysis will beused to analyze the data. It is our hope that the program will enableus to achieve these objectives.