Writing a Problem Statement

TOPIC: the use of graphing calculators in teaching algebra

As a question: How are graphing calculators used in teaching grade nine algebra?

As a hypothesis: The achievement of grade nine students taught algebra with graphing calculators will equal or exceed that of grade nine students taught without graphing calculators.

As a null hypothesis: There are no differences in achievement in algebra for grade nine students taught with graphing calculators as compared to those taught with out graphing calculators.

Types of ResearchTypes of ResearchEDUC 500EDUC 500

Is this research?Is this research?

Consider these examplesConsider these examples

During an informal discussion with a group of students, Ms. Chan heard someone say, “Teachers always ask the same people to answer the hard questions.” She began to wonder if that were really true. To find out she sat in the back of another teacher’s class and wrote down each question asked and the student to whom the question was directed.

Mr. Ramirez was a beginning nurse. He kept hearing about Ms. Blaine who was “the best nurse in the clinic.” In order to find out what Ms. Blaine did that earned her that reputation, Mr. Ramirez arranged to shadow her at work three times each week. He also talked to patients and other staff about their reasons for thinking Ms. Blaine was a good nurse.

Mr. Gordon was interested in the ways school counsellors thought students learned about career options. He developed some tasks that he thought would help counsellors to talk about their ideas about student career choices and used the tasks to interview some colleagues.

Ms. Berliner had just received a new computer for her classroom. She was curious to find out if students would learn multiplication facts better using the computer instead of regular workbook assignments and class drills. To find out, she arranged for every other student in her class to use software designed to teach multiplication, while the other students used the workbook and participated in class drills. She gave all the students a pretest and a posttest to see if the computer group differed from the regular group. She presented the findings to the local math teacher association.

Many kinds of Many kinds of researchresearch

Post-positivism

Constructionism

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Types of ResearchBurnside set out to determine the number of teachers in Vancouver who planned to retire in the next five years, their ages, and their main reasons for considering retirement.

Cheung set up a study in Winnipeg schools to determine the effectiveness of using computer simulations to teach science versus hands-on labs.

Mitchell attempted to describe the early years of the residential schools in BC.

Historical

Descriptive

Correlational

Causal comparative

Ethnographic

Experimental

Types of ResearchMcLachlin investigated a hypothesized relationship between student melancholia and grades received.

Vigneault conducted an in-depth study of the culture of a religious school in southern Saskatchewan.

Naslund investigated the grade point average of graduating students at Eastern University to compare (1) student who had attended community college for their first two years versus (2) students who had gone to Eastern University all four years.

Historical

Descriptive

Correlational

Causal comparative

Ethnographic

Experimental

• Credibility• Verisimilitude• Confirmabilit

y• Researcher

• Replicability• Reliability• Probabilistic• Method &

instruments

Idiographic statementsSimilarity & differenceThick descriptionResearcher as instrumentReaders judge the transferability

Nomothetic statementsSimilaritySample to populationJustifiability through standard techniquesResearcher makes explicit claim about generalizability

GENERALIZABILITY