EDLD+5301+Discussion+Board+Posts

The research topic that I chose is how well students perform in classes where technology is utilized vs. how well they perform in classes that do not use technology at all. I thought it would be very interesting to know these statistics since it is the basis for this program. It is important that ALL teachers begin to incorporate technology into their lessons on a daily basis. I feel strongly that the results of this research will confirm this.
 * Week 1**

Do you practice scholarly writing? How can you help students have a better understanding of intellectual property, paraphrasing, and citing sources? I do practice scholarly writing now that I am in a class that requires me to cite my sources. I have discussed to my classes the importance of intellectual property, paraphrasing, and citing sources. They also learn this in other classes. Now whether or not they choose to follow what they have been taught is a completely different question. They do know that they can't just copy someone else's work without giving them credit for it. I hope they take it seriously and learn to write correctly.
 * Week 2**

What statistical tests do you regularly use to evaluate class performance on assignments and tests? Do you compute the class average? Have you ever investigated all three measures of central tendency? How could this information help you make better decisions about teaching and learning? My school district uses Gradespeed to calculate grades. It will automatically calculate all of this for us. I have never, personally, calculated any of the measures myself. After seeing how the 3 measures of central tendency can be beneficial, I will use them more. But, I know that if I need any of this info it is there for me in Gradespeed. This program helps me to see what assignments everyone is doing poorly on, etc. It's a great program.
 * Week 3**

Do you collect qualitative data informally? How? Would intentionally following a qualitative analysis/data reduction process make informal/formative assessment more trustworthy in your current assignment? I collect qualitative data informally on pretty much a daily basis. Most of my data from my students in my computer classes is collected through observations and feedback from my students.
 * Week 4**

I believe that action research can be used in my current assignment to improve teaching and learning. I would use it to investigate my own research topic: Does increased technology usage in the classroom help to improve student academic achievement? Action research will allow me to find out the answer to this question.
 * Week 5**