To Determine if Technology Can Improve Student Retention & Raise Test Grades? Presented by Anjum Najmi CECS 5610/030 Final Paper Design

To determine the effectiveness of technology (inspiration software) in improving student retention and raising test grades. Hypothesis  The study spans over 6 weeks:  One pretest; One post-test  Eight problem solving practice sessions (twice a week, 40 min each)  At week six, the experimental and control groups would be given the post-test (50 min).

Design Experimental Pre & Post test control group design R OX O R O O Two Independent Variables: 1. Between-Group (independent variable) Control Group (not using inspiration software) Experimental Group (using inspiration software) 2. Within-Group (independent variable) “Test” divided into pre & post tests Dependant Variable: Student Pre & Post Test Scores

Procedure * Students in the control group will copy glossary words from a power-point presentation, write the terms and their definitions in a spiral and use that as a review sheet for learning. * Students in the experimental group are to use Inspiration software they will diagram the glossary words, their meanings and their definitions and learn the terms. Internal Validity: The computer grades the multiple choice tests and the Inspiration Diagrams are free from interpretation bias they are either done correctly or not. External Validity: Another teacher should be able to get the same results with the same group of children if the same process is followed.

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Data Analysis GroupNPretestPost-test Mean SD Experimental75 E/M 1 E/SD1 E/M2 E/SD2 Control75 C/M1 C/SD1 C/M2 C/SD2  Mean and Standard Deviations are determined for pre and post test scores  A p < 0.05 significance level is adopted  To check for variances within groups, a homogeneity test can be considered  A two way mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to determine Determine the average difference between-group Means Determine the average variance within-groups F-value is used to reduce the incidence of error Possible significance between groups and within groups would reveal if they are statistically significant enough to be important

Educational Significance  Improves student retention through a step-by-step approach to learning.  Learning more challenging and meaningful  Reduces student frustration in learning, as the system would give guidance and feedback during the learning process  This type of learning can benefit other students i.e. special education as it is visual and graphic and easy to follow  Findings can be reported to students, teacher and administrators involved. If positive; a report could be done district wide or during in-service meetings so that other teachers could use the same method in their classrooms

References 1. Chang, Kuo-En & Lin, Shiu-Feng. (2006). Computer-Assisted Learning for Mathematical Problem Solving. Computers and Education. Vol. 46, Issue 2. Pages National Taiwan University. Department of Information and Computer Education. Retrieved March 3 rd, 2006 from: 2. Campbell, D., Stanley, J. (1963). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 3. Liu, Min. (2006) The Effect of a Hypermedia Learning Environment on Middle School Students' Motivation, Attitude, and Science Knowledge. Computers in the Schools. Vol 22, Issue: 3/ The Haworth Press, Inc. Retrieved March 6 th, 2006 from 12&ID= Muir-Herzig, Rozalind G. (2004). Technology and its Impact in the Classroom. Computers & Education. Pages Volume 42, Issue 2. Retrieved April 2 nd, 2006 from 1/2/c7676ca2e82b6047f da069a9 5. Urdan, Timothy C. (2005). Statistics in Plain English. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. New Jersey.