___________________________________________________________________ SEPTEMBER SEMESTER 2013 HMEF5113 STATISTICS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ___________________________________________________________________ ASSIGNMENT 2 (50 %) OBJECTIVE: The objective

e of this assignment is to provide you practice in using the SPSS Statistics software to analyse and interpret data collected in a research study INSTRUCTIONS: Answer all questions in this assignment. Read up the OUM module on Statistics for Educational Research, the recommended books on statistical analysis and SPSS Statistics.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION: An education institution would like to study the effect of computer assisted instruction in teaching of science amongst selected secondary school students in a district. A quasiexperimental design was used for this purpose. The sample comprised 175 students of which 86 were from the Special ICT Project Schools (Experimental Group) and 89 from Regular Schools (Control Group).

In this study, students were required to take computer-based assessment tests comprising an aptitude test, a pretest and a posttest on some selected topics in Science. The pretest and posttest were similar tests administered before and after the computer-based instruction programme (treatment) which was carried out over a 6 - week period. The aptitude test was to gauge students attitude and perception towards learning of Science. The pretest was to assess the students prior knowledge of the selected science topics, while the posttest was to determine their achievement in the selected science topics after the experiment.

The SPSS Statistics data HMEF5113 Data Set 17 Sept 13.sav.

a. Study the quasi-experimental design and data file carefully and state the relevant research questions to address the following objectives:

i)

To compare the prior knowledge in Science between the experimental and control groups groups, as well as the achievement in Science between the two

ii)

To determine if there is improvement in the achievement in Science in the experimental group as well as the control groups

iii)

To ascertain the association between the students prior knowledge in Science and achievement in Science

[6 marks] b. Formulate the relevant null and alternative hypotheses based on the research questions in a) above. [12 marks] c. State the appropriate statistical tests to test the hypotheses in b) above. [6 marks] d. Run the appropriate statistical tests including tests of assumptions to test the hypotheses stated in b) above. Make your conclusions on these statistical tests. [50 marks] e. Run the appropriate statistical test to determine whether there is a significant difference in the posttest scores of students in relation to ethnicity regardless of which school they are from (either Special ICT Project Schools or Regular Schools).

i.

Show and interpret the descriptive statistics output. [5 marks]

ii. Write your hypothesis and state your conclusions in relation to the findings of the statistical output. [9 marks] iii. State 2 key assumptions associated with this test. [2 marks] The researcher is also interested to know whether students attitude and perception towards Science has any association with their achievement in Science.

f.

Using the aptitude, pretest and posttest variables, run a correlation analysis of these variables based on the different types of schools. coefficients and make your conclusions. [10 marks] Interpret their correlation

ASSIGNMENT FORMAT: a. Your assignment should be typed on A4 paper using 12 point Times New Roman font and 1.5 spacing. b. You are to submit a softcopy of your assignment online through myVLE and a hardcopy to your facilitator. c. Provide references. References should use the American Psychological Association (APA) format. d. Latest references should be used (year 2005 and onwards).

NOTES: The assignment should be submitted according to the due date. This assignment will be assessed based on 100 marks but the weighting is 50%. Plagiarised assignment will be rejected.