Ed 603 - Assignment 2
In this second assignment for Ed 603, you are going to
look at one of the articles of interest you identified in
assignment 1 and answer the following questions about the article:
- What is the problem for the study?
- What procedures did the experimenter use for the study?
- What were the major conclusions for the study?
- How would you classify the study, according to the six
types of research studies we looked at in this lesson?
Specific Format for Completing the Lesson 2 Assignment and
sending it to the Ed 603 Instructor
Once you have answered the questions about your article you
should create a word processing document for the assignment.
As you did for lesson 1, at the top of the page, on the first line record the
following: Ed 603, Lesson 2 Assignment. On the second line
record your name and student number at MSUM (if you have one).
On the third line record the date you completed the assignment.
After you have completed the assigment (and saved it on your computer)
send e-mail to your instructor indicating that you are sending
the lesson 2 assignment in and then attach the file for the
assignment to your lesson.
The e-mail address for the instructor, John Wasson, is
wassonj@teleport.com
Here is an example of what a completed assignment for lesson 2
could look like. For this example I am using the article that is
reprinted in the textbook for the course (pages 26-29 in Educational Research,
Fifth Edition or pages 28-31 in Educational Research, Sixth Edition).
Ed 603, Lesson 2 Assignment
John Wasson, Student Number 710967
October 28, 2001
Article: Brown, Steven M., & Walberg, Herbert J. (1993). Motivational effects
on test scores of elementary students. The Journal of Educational Research,
86, 133-136.
- Problem for the study:
What is the effect of motivation on the test scores of elementary students?
- Procedures:
The researcher selected pairs of classes from grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 in three
schools. One
classroom of each pair was randomly chosen to be in the experimental group while
the other classroom of the pair was assignmed to the control group. Students
in the experimental group were given a motivational talk about how important it
was to do well on a standardized test, for themselves, their parents, and for
the teacher. All students
were then adminstered the Mathematics Concepts subtest of the Iowa Basic Skills test.
- Method of Analysis:
Analysis of variance was used to test the significance of any differences between the
two groups scores on the Math test. Any differences between grades (3, 4, 6, 7, and
8), school (three schools were used in the study) and gender were also evaluated
by the analysis of variance statistic.
- Results:
The classes receiving the motivational talk did significantly better on the math
test then did the classes who had not received the motivational talk. There were
no differences among the grades in the study or the sex of the students. There was
a significant interaction effect among the three schools with the experimental
condition. This interaction was shown as follows - For schools A and C the
experimental group achieved higher scores on the math test than did the control
groups. However, for school B the control group achieved higher scores on the
math test than did the experimental group.
- Type of Study:
This study was experimental research as pairs of classrooms were randomly placed in
the experimental and control conditions. If the study had only looked at the effect
the other independent variables (gender, grade, and school) had on the dependent variable
(math scores) then it would have been causal-comparative.