Web Pedagogies Week 12: Transactional Distance and Polling

Schedule Last Weeks recap Project Reviews Polling Using the Polling tool Break Lab

Project Feedback (3) Please pick one project and read it over Prepare feedback points Give presentation

Polling: Assessing Opinion How do we know?: Ask everyone or sample the population Why sample: Efficient way to get information Sample size determines margin of error (smaller samples have higher errors)

Polling: Samples Recent Gallup Poll Likely voters Registered voters Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,014 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 5-8, 2004. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. Likely voters Registered voters Source:http://www.gallup.com/content/?ci=11260

Polling: Predicting Often a way of using aggregate statistics to find information to predict or explain. Common Prediction: Forecasting presidential race Likely voters Registered voters Source:http://www.gallup.com/content/?ci=11260

Polling: Explaining things Exit polling common in politics to help explain outcomes: For example: NH exit polls after primary Kerry carried voters who wanted a viable candidate Kerry ahead w/voters who cared about health care and economy Dean ahead with wanting a candidate close to their own position Dean carried anti-Iraq war voters. Edwards ahead with those who cared about the ‘tone’ of race

Polling: Tracking Responses over Time “In general, how would you say things are going for the U.S. in Iraq?” Source:http://www.gallup.com/content/?ci=11260

Polling: Disaggregating the Data Demographic or other background variables often key: Gender Gender gap in politics: Men favor Bush over Kerry (46 to 38%) Women favor Kerry over Bush (50 to 37%)* Age Race What else would be important? Other background variable depending on the study DCE report: CS vs non-CS students Students who had prior distance learning experiences vs. not * Investor’s Business Daily, March 15, 2004

Polling in classrooms: affordances of the web How can polling transform the classroom? Instant feedback Take the ‘temperature’ of the class Do quizzes Collect data Other uses in education: Ed School admissions tool http://poll.icommons.harvard.edu/poll/taker/pollTakerOpen.jsp?poll=1-1560-39788

Sites of Interest Electronic assessment resources Polling sites http://www.aahe.org/assessment/assess_links.htm http://www.getfast.ca/ Useful article: Butler (2003) “The Impact of Computer Based Testing on Student Attitudes and Behavior.” http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=1013 Polling sites www.gallup.com www.zogby.com www.pewtrust.org