8/10/2019 Week 10 Assignment

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Richard Jones

EdTech 505

Week 10 Assignment

Part 3

1. Does my project represent research or evaluation? How do I make that decision?

In examining my project for this course, it is clear that I am completing evaluation, not research.

I say this based on information from Chapter 8 as well as some of the supplemental readings for

the week. First, the goal of my project is not to expand knowledge within a particular field ofstudy; rather, it is being conducted to understand the extent to which Cyber High and Studies

classes are meeting the stated goals for the program. Second, the audience for this evaluation

would be the stakeholders who have implemented (teachers and administrators) the program, not

a general audience who is interested in understanding the effectiveness of online courseware inremediating credit deficiencies. Third, the nature of the data collection is closely aligned to what

the book refers to as correlational research in that the evaluator will be collecting new data and

existing data; moreover, there will be no sampling or attempts to alter variables in any kind ofscientific manner. These are not the only reasons I have deemed my project as evaluative.

The other areas where my project lands on the side of evaluation comes from what the

supplemental materials called questions and context. Questions refer to the purpose behindthe questions being asked in the project. In my case, the questions are constructed based on

consultations with the stakeholders rather than stemming from some form of educational theory.

Finally, the context of my project requires me to work with what I have been given by our schoolsite. I will not manipulate the environment that I am working in. All of these considerations lead

me to believe that I am participating in evaluation, not research.

2. Does my project involve sampling? If so, what type of sampling will I employ?

Sampling refers to the selection of individuals who will participate in an evaluation. After

looking at what the textbook refers to as probability sampling and nonprobability samplingmethods, it is clear that I will not be using sampling in my evaluation. I say this because I plan to

include all students, teachers, and administrators (who are associated with this program) in my

evaluation. This might sound like a large sample group, but this is aligned to Boulmetiss andDutwins suggestion to include all participants when the sample size is less 100 individuals. I

could have limited my study to one of the Studies classes, but I feel the results will be much

more reliable if I take all three classes into consideration. I say this because only considering the

afternoon Studies class might skew the results toward lower credit remediation numbers (asseems to be the case after lunch) compared to the two classes that are held before lunch.

Obviously there could be other factors that account for the lower number of credits being earned

in the afternoon (like student abilities, types of courses being taken, etc.), but this is not a

research project where I attempt to control such variables.

It is important to note that the textbook discusses issues with trying to get feedback from 100

percent of the people involved in a project of this type as some may not participate in the surveysor interviews. I do not see this as a problem because I will have daily access to the students,

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teachers, and administrators. I have already discussed the data collection with the teachers and

they will be able to supply much of it from data that is automatically collected by the Cyber High

program itself. The other information will come from surveys and interviews, both of whichshould be fairly easy to collect given careful planning.

Part 4

Video Option 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-l6LwfwJE

This video defines population, sample, and mean and explains their relationship to surveys. The

instructor begins by providing a definition for each of these terms. Population refers to the

amount or group of people within a survey. Sample refers to a smaller group of individuals whohave been selected from the population. Finally, mean is another term for average. The instructor

then applies a context so viewers can see how the terms would be used in a hypothetical

situation. In this case, the survey is attempting to determine the number of hours students spend

watching television per day. The population for the survey was a large school, so he suggested

using a sample size of two classrooms. The mean ended up being five hours. The video does anexcellent job of defining the three terms and providing a scenario for context; however, I wish it

would have spent a little more time discussing sample size and why he deemed it appropriate forthe survey. In other words, I was left wondering if there is a specific percentage of participants

that should be represented from a given population.

Video Option 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBtNBVy42M&feature=related

This video examines the use of simple random sampling (SRS) when conducting a survey. The

video defines simple random sampling as those that allow individuals and sets of individuals anequal chance of being selected. The example that he uses is the selection of 50 random students

at a high school. This would represent simple random sample if each students had an equal

chance of being selected as well as an equal chance that all might come from a specific grade

level or mixture of grade levels (sets). The video then moves into an analysis of the pros andcons of using simple random sampling. The pros of SRS include being unbiased and relatively

easy to accomplish. The cons include results that can vary quite substantially and samples that

might not be representative of the population as a whole. The narrator also mentions samplingframes as a con, but fails to fully describe what that means.

From there, the video moves into the methods for carrying out simple random sampling. The firstmethod is to draw random names out of a hat. He notes the importance of not putting names back

into the hat once they have been drawn. The second method is called a random digit table. This is

basically a table of random numbers that correlate to the individuals in a population. Some

numbers will be drawn that do not match with individuals, but the evaluator can simply continuethe process until the desired sample size is reached. The final method is to use a random number

generator. This is an electronic tool (calculator, computer, etc.) that can provide a random set of

integers that link back to a participant. Random number generation reminds me a bit of the NBA

draft lottery where numbers are selected to choose the order in which teams will draft. The onlydifference is the chance is not equal for all teams as the ones with less wins are given more balls

(numbers) that can be drawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-l6LwfwJEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-l6LwfwJEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBtNBVy42M&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBtNBVy42M&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBtNBVy42M&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-l6LwfwJE