An Inferential Statistic of Housing Problems Assignment

An Inferential Statistic of Housing Problems - Assignment Example The null hypothesis of equal variances is rejected and it is concluded that there is a difference between the variances in the population.It is called heteroscedasticity. Some of the procedures typically assuming homoscedasticity are the ANOVA, t-tests.Levene's test is often used before a comparison of means. When Levene's test shows significance, one should switch to generalized tests, free from homoscedasticity assumptions. Since the p-value is less than 0.05 ( 0.000) in this case hence homoscedasticity or equal variances cannot be assumed. The computed t statistic is 6.95 which is more than the assumed or critical t statistic of 6.82 for assuming equal variance. The degree of freedom is hence retained as 957.51 and the p values as stated is

Discussing Web Use Especially for Educational Purposes :: Internet Cyberspace Education Essays

Discussing Web Use Especially for Educational Purposes Abstract The purpose of my paper is to define the web, discuss its educational value, and review some of the ongoing debate regarding its educational use. "And Robert L. Heath says ‘[It is a] means by which any organization - no matter how financially limited - can sustain its messages over time and reach people around the world’ " (as cited by Cooley, 1999, p.1). What is the Web? The Web or WWW or World Wide Web is an informational venue, as well as a communications medium that serves many purposes, namely, to advertise businesses, people, products, services; in other words, to facilitate marketing and public relations. "The World Wide Web’s accessibility and ease of use have encouraged a proliferation of Web resources on almost every imaginable topic. Due to the wealth of information available, the Web is becoming a widely used research tool" (Tate and Alexander, 1996, p.1). The Web is also an educational and news delivery system. The Web began with the birth of the internet. According to Sutherland and Stewart (1999), "[t]he Internet, developed in the 1960s to facilitate military research, had expanded to other research uses by the end of the 1970s." Starr (1997) states, that " [by 1981], the Internet had grown to comprise 213 host computers, linked in an unorganized collection of networks that included local area networks, dedicated computer lines, telephone lines and satellite links" (as cited by Sutherland and Stewart, p.1). "Barely a decade later, the Internet had come to include more than 2 million host computers, a growth largely driven by the popularity of the Web, which only became available in 1990" (Sutherland and Stewart, p.1). "Lehnert (1998) stated that this rapid growth of the Web stemmed from the increased availability of inexpensive, powerful computers, widespread access to the Internet, the combination of the easy to use HTML and graphics, readily available Web browsers, and significant a ttention given to the Web by the mass media" (as cited by Sutherland and Stewart, p.1). Starr said that "[T]he Web, with its innovations in the areas of hypertext, multimedia, and interactivity, has had a profound impact on higher education" (as cited by Sutherland and Stewart, p.1). According to Barnard (1997), "[U]niversity administrators, partially driven by market forces, value the Web as a vehicle to market their institution as well as to deliver distance learning" (as cited by Sutherland and Stewart, p.

What Are the Statistics on Cooperative Learning

WHAT ARE THE STATISTICS ON COOPERATIVE LEARNING ANYWAY? Cooperative learning has been debated by educators for a long time and continues to be questioned today. Many educators feel that cooperative learning strips students of the benefits of direct instruction. Proponents of homogeneous learning tend to stray from cooperative learning because it seems to deprive gifted students of learning with their gifted peers.Five studies will be summarized that look at different aspects of cooperative learning: effects with the learning disabled, the advantage of helping behaviors, math achievement, strategic reading in groups, social support, and heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping. A study was conducted to find out if students with learning difficulties interacted positively in cooperative learning groups. This study also looked at the importance of training students to work together as opposed to just putting them in groups to complete tasks (Gillies & Ashman, 2000). The study looked at 15 2 third grade students from Australia.Twenty-two of those students had learning difficulties (12 boys and 10 girls). The students were randomly placed in cooperative learning groups of five to six students consisting of one high-ability student, two medium-ability students, and one low-ability student. The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test measured learning ability and grade level readiness. An ANOVA test showed no significant difference between the structured groups (those trained to work cooperatively) and the unstructured groups (those not trained to work together) at the onset of the study.During the study period the structured group received the treatment of cooperative learning training before completing a social studies unit (independent variable). The unstructured group was encouraged to work together as a group and given the same time period to complete the social studies unit, but they never received training for such group work. The students were videotaped twice during the study to observe behaviors and interactions, and they were given comprehension and word reading pre- and posttests. The researchers focused their findings on the students with learning difficulties.There was no significant difference in the behaviors of students in the structured or unstructured groups. However, there were significant findings regarding group interactions. Those students in the structured groups interacted and benefited from interactions significantly more than students in the unstructured groups. Students in the structured group also reached greater achievement on the comprehension posttest than those from the unstructured groups. No significant findings resulted in the word reading posttest between the two groups.The authors did find that this study supported that students with learning difficulties do benefit from working in small, structured cooperative groups (Gillies & Ashman, 2000). Nattiv’s study of cooperative learning (1994) focused on four topics: Do helping behaviors found in cooperative groups have a link to achievement gains in third, fourth, and fifth grade math students? Did gender, grade, or ability level within cooperative groups affect achievement? Do all helping behaviors benefit academic achievement? Does gender, grade, or ability level have an effect on the helping behaviors exhibited? Nattiv, 1994)). The subjects included 36 third-grade students, 34 fourth-grade students, and 31 fifth-grade students. Fifty-four of those students were male and the remaining 47 were females. The children were ability grouped from the results of the California Test of Basic Skills and the Southwest Regional Lab (both math assessments). Males and females were separately grouped as high-, medium-, and low-ability. The author states that these pretest results could be seen as achievement rather than ability, but the teachers of the students were consulted about the placement of the students (Nattiv, 1994).All of the students received d irect instruction, modeling, and practice of helping behaviors in cooperative group learning. Teachers also received training in this area. The groups, then, participated in grade-level appropriate math units. Students were further encouraged to work cooperatively because individual improvement on assessments also earned team points. Data was collected by audio and video recordings. The research team hypothesized that helping behaviors would be related to achievement. Achievement gain would be used as the dependent variable and would be measured by an ANCOVA test.The team found that there was a significant relationship to students using helping behaviors in cooperative learning groups to academic achievement gain. The only behaviors that did not show significant growth were the giving and receiving of answers without explanation (Nattiv, 1994). Another study conducted in Southeastern United States focused on a different type of cooperative learning called Collaborative Strategic Rea ding. Klingner, Vaughn, and Schumm (1998) sought to discover if this program would be effective in a heterogeneous classroom.They further wanted to analyze reading comprehension, social studies content, and student interactions in conjunction with this technique (Klingner, Vaughn, & Schumm, 1998). The participants included 141 students. Eighty-five students were split into three classes to represent the treatment group (or intervention condition), and 56 students were split into two classes to represent the control condition. To ensure equal groupings the students were assessed with the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, then paired and randomly assigned to conditions.Both conditions received the same instruction, number of sessions, time periods per session, and homework activities. The intervention condition received instructions on how to use specific reading strategies to read strategically. The strategies were modeled, practiced, used in small groups, and then encouraged wh en students broke off into their cooperative groups of five to six students. The control condition received direct instruction for the same social studies material and participated in all lessons as a whole group.Sessions within the intervention condition were audiotaped to hear student interactions. The Gates-MacGinitie Standardized Reading test and a social studies unit test served as dependent variables to measure student achievement. The researchers of this study did find these strategies to be successful. The strategies caused the students of the intervention condition to participate more and discuss more academic content. The students also received higher achievement gains in reading comprehension, while also finding success on the social studies testing.LD students and LEP students did not show statistically significant growth, but did show some growth. Not all of the strategies proved to be successful for the intervention condition, but most did serve their purpose (Klingner , et al. , 1998). Johnson, Johnson, Buckman, and Richards (2001) were only interested in the social aspects of cooperative learning. â€Å"The purpose of the present study was to determine whether cooperative learning experiences are related to social support in the classroom,† (Johnson, Johnson, Buckman, & Richards, 2001).The researchers used The Classroom Life Instrument to measure their data. It included 59 Likert-type questions rating statements on a five point scale of truthfulness. The measure was taken in November and January of the same school year. The sample included five eighth-grade classes with 45 girls and 46 boys. They were divided by those who reported being in cooperative groups less than half of the time (35 students) and participating half of the time or more (56 students). The hypothesis was that students would feel more social support in classrooms experiencing cooperative learning more often.Between November and January, research found that students did indeed feel more support with more exposure to cooperative learning. Support was felt by teachers and other students. Students felt more comfortable with materials presented and felt less alienated in the classroom. Students felt more responsible for what they were doing and had a better relationship among classmates both academically and personally (Johnson, et al. , 2001). Grouping students heterogeneously is typically a cooperative learning â€Å"must. Watson and Marshall (1995) wanted to test that theory in a study comparing the effectiveness of heterogeneous grouping and homogeneous grouping in cooperative task structures (Watson & Marshall, 1995). Thirty-five undergraduate elementary education students in a life science class were chosen to participate in this study. In this 13 week treatment, the independent variable was in the grouping of students. Six of the groups were arranged heterogeneously and six groups were arranged homogeneously.All groups were exposed to cooperati ve task structures, cooperative incentive structures, and individual accountability. Control was measured by the National Association of Biology Teachers/ National Science Teachers Association test (form A) before the treatment began. The dependent variable was taken from the results of the NABT/NSTA (form B) posttest. A five-item, five-point Liken scale was used to measure student response to the cooperative learning experiences. The authors felt that greater achievement would be gained by students heterogeneously placed in cooperative learning groups. They were rejected.Findings indicated no significant difference in test results from the heterogeneous groups to the homogeneous groups. In fact, in measuring the students’ perceptions of their experiences the homogeneous groups rated their experiences higher than those of the heterogeneous groups. The authors concluded that further studies should be done to find out if heterogeneous grouping is the most beneficial in all coop erative learning tasks (Watson & Marshall, 1995). I am a strong supporter, and user, of cooperative learning. I feel that students best learn from the modeling of those they can relate to most: their peers.After reviewing these studies I have not only gained a better understanding of what might be needed to strengthen cooperative learning in the education of my students, but I also feel validated in my use of cooperative learning as an effective learning tool. While some of the researchers did reject initial hypotheses, all of them showed value in the practice of cooperative learning. It is important to teach students how to work cooperatively, model good helping behaviors, and help students to receive not only strong academic support but strong social support as well.Finally, heterogeneous grouping may not be best in every experience in the classroom. Different group experiences may be needed to enhance the benefits. References Gillies, R. M. & Ashman, A. F. (2000). The effects of cooperative learning on students with learning difficulties in the lower elementary school. Journal of Special Education, 34(1), 19-27. Johnson, D. W. , Johnson, R. T. , Buckman, L. A. , & Richards, P. S. (2001). The effect of prolonged implementation of cooperative learning on social support within the classroom. The Journal of Psychology, 119(5), 405-411.Klingner, J. K. , Vaughn, S. , & Schumm, J. S. (1998). Collaborative strategic reading during social studies in heterogeneous fourth-grade classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 99(1), 3-22. Nattiv, A. (1994). Helping behaviors and math achievement gain of students using cooperative learning. The Elementary School Journal, 94(3), 285-297. Watson, S. B. & Marshall, J. E. (1995). Heterogeneous grouping as an element of cooperative learning in an elementary education science course. School Science & Mathematics, 95(8), 401-406.

Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe - 1783 Words

People all have different parts of their identity that make them all unique beings, but just what is an identity and how does it affect the culture we live in? Like, each individual finger print each person is born with, we are all a combination of a variety of aspects that are affected and affect the culture one live in. Identity is not just what a person is like, but attitudes of one, that are quintessential of one s character, and plays a role in various social environments. In this time, in the novel, the missionaries arrival and cultural conflict is occurring, the Nigerian tribes and the missionaries come from worlds apart and the distinct morals and values are failed to be accepted by either side. Okonkwo, the main character in the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, is involved in multiple incidents which reveal his identity and eventually show how he reacts to the invasions of white missionaries. Achebe gives a unique perspective on the cultural and social context t o the time in Nigeria, which shows the starkly different image of the indigenous living in the area. Publishing a novel with such a different point of view allowed and informed the audience to see an opposite portrayal of the missionary and Nigerian conflict through the story of Okonkwo and his family. Particularly, in the novel, Okonkwo is the key character that reveals the most about the time, and through this the reader could conclude that his Identity: his power and strength, yet greatShow MoreRelatedThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1415 Words   |  6 Pagesbook Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe does just that. This book should be taught in schools because it shows the values and traditions of Achebe’s Igbo culture, persistently teaches life lessons throughout the book, and shows the darker reality of European colonialism in Africa. Chinua Achebe is known as one of the most influential and famous authors to ever write. Chinua Achebe originates from an Igbo background and he expresses that through his writings very well including Things Fall ApartRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe1324 Words   |  6 Pages Chinua Achebe chose to write his novels in English to reveal a deep response of his people to colonisation and to make that response understood to people all over the world. Things Fall Apart was written in English to teach people worldwide of the struggles he faced and the people of Nigeria faced growing up. Many authors and critics have written about Achebe’s ‘Things fall apart’ adding their valued opinion on what he was trying to say and his decision to write in English. In the followingRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1203 Words   |  5 Pages who took their land for monetary gain. This was a dark period of time for Africans that live there. The U.S. Civil War and The Great Depression both can be related, in this instance, to how down their people were because of what happened. Chinua Achebe said it best, â€Å"I would be quite satisfied if my novels...did no more than teach my readers of their past...was not a long night of savagery from which the first European acting on God’s behalf delivered them†(qtd. in â€Å"Morning Yet† 45). In theRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1452 Words   |  6 Pagesassume control over the Roman Empire. However, imperialism in Africa remained a recorded element from 1750 to 1945. This paper visits how control and changes were influences over the Africans during this time period as seen through Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. (UKEssays, 2015) Europe was experiencing a few financial and political changes that forced the major European forces to investigate abroad regions to add to their resources during the seventeenth century. In order for the EuropeanRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe2361 Words   |  10 PagesThings Fall Apart Book Critique Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a historical fiction novel describing the life of Okonkwo in a Nigerian village succumbing to European ways, in order to portray Achebe’s view on imperialism. It was chosen for us to read by our teacher because it describes imperialism and its effects in an Ibo village of Nigeria. It also shows the treatment of natives by the Europeans and how the natives reacted. Things Fall Apart is useful to our course of studies because itRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1265 Words   |  6 PagesThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is markedly relevant to our current course of studies in World History, as it tells a story based on European Imperialism in Africa. Coming off the heels of our Imperialism unit, this post-colonial novel provides very helpful context on different civilizations’ perspectives throughout the Age of Imperialism; aside from analyzing death tolls, descriptions of conflicts, and names of countries, it was previousl y hard to envision what life was actually like during thatRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 735 Words   |  3 PagesThings fall apart. Achebe. Ernest Gaines once said, â€Å"I write to try to find out who I am. One of my main themes is manliness. I think Im trying to figure out what manliness really is.† Indeed, every society or culture has its own understanding of an ideal man. Even though these characteristics are different in various parts of the world, the significance of masculinity can never be overestimated. â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe is considered as one of the best examples of a riseRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe692 Words   |  3 Pagesthe way to go. Through commercial trading Islam spread into Igboland, and this led to more Igbo people leaving the Igbo way of life for another, whether it be Islam or Christianity which divide the country in two. In the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe British colonialism and the migration of Muslims to Nigeria led to the change in the faith, social and economic changes in the Igbo society. Traditional Igbo faith believes that there is only one creator or god known as ChinekeRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe897 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel, â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe the Igbo tradition revolves around structured gender role. Everything essential of Igbo life is based on their gender, which throughout the novel it shows the role of women and the position they hold, from their role in the family household, also planting women crops, to bearing children. Although the women were claimed to be weaker and seemed to be treated as objects, in the Igbo culture the women still provided qualities that make them worthyRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1851 Words   |  8 Pageschoice and styles are critical not only to the reader’s understanding of the text but to his appreciation as well. How language is effectively manipulated in their writings enhances the reader’s valuing of the works. The selected novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a representation of Igbo culture and their language. It explores the life of an Igbo tribe at the time of when colonization hit Africa. It could be considered as a post-colonial text, as the protagonist of the story and the other