Richard Jones

EdTech 505

Week 10 Assignment

Part 3
1. Does my project represent research or evaluation? How do I make that decision?
In examining my project for this course, it is clear that I am completing evaluation, not research.
I say this based on information from Chapter 8 as well as some of the supplemental readings for
the week. First, the goal of my project is not to expand knowledge within a particular field of
study; rather, it is being conducted to understand the extent to which Cyber High and Studies
classes are meeting the stated goals for the program. Second, the audience for this evaluation
would be the stakeholders who have implemented (teachers and administrators) the program, not
a general audience who is interested in understanding the effectiveness of online courseware in
remediating credit deficiencies. Third, the nature of the data collection is closely aligned to what
the book refers to as correlational research in that the evaluator will be collecting new data and
existing data; moreover, there will be no sampling or attempts to alter variables in any kind of
scientific manner. These are not the only reasons I have deemed my project as evaluative.
The other areas where my project lands on the side of evaluation comes from what the
supplemental materials called questions and context. Questions refer to the purpose behind
the questions being asked in the project. In my case, the questions are constructed based on
consultations with the stakeholders rather than stemming from some form of educational theory.
Finally, the context of my project requires me to work with what I have been given by our school
site. I will not manipulate the environment that I am working in. All of these considerations lead
me to believe that I am participating in evaluation, not research.
2. Does my project involve sampling? If so, what type of sampling will I employ?
Sampling refers to the selection of individuals who will participate in an evaluation. After
looking at what the textbook refers to as probability sampling and nonprobability sampling
methods, it is clear that I will not be using sampling in my evaluation. I say this because I plan to
include all students, teachers, and administrators (who are associated with this program) in my
evaluation. This might sound like a large sample group, but this is aligned to Boulmetiss and
Dutwins suggestion to include all participants when the sample size is less 100 individuals. I
could have limited my study to one of the Studies classes, but I feel the results will be much
more reliable if I take all three classes into consideration. I say this because only considering the
afternoon Studies class might skew the results toward lower credit remediation numbers (as
seems to be the case after lunch) compared to the two classes that are held before lunch.
Obviously there could be other factors that account for the lower number of credits being earned
in the afternoon (like student abilities, types of courses being taken, etc.), but this is not a
research project where I attempt to control such variables.
It is important to note that the textbook discusses issues with trying to get feedback from 100
percent of the people involved in a project of this type as some may not participate in the surveys
or interviews. I do not see this as a problem because I will have daily access to the students,

teachers, and administrators. I have already discussed the data collection with the teachers and
they will be able to supply much of it from data that is automatically collected by the Cyber High
program itself. The other information will come from surveys and interviews, both of which
should be fairly easy to collect given careful planning.
Part 4
Video Option 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-l6LwfwJE
This video defines population, sample, and mean and explains their relationship to surveys. The
instructor begins by providing a definition for each of these terms. Population refers to the
amount or group of people within a survey. Sample refers to a smaller group of individuals who
have been selected from the population. Finally, mean is another term for average. The instructor
then applies a context so viewers can see how the terms would be used in a hypothetical
situation. In this case, the survey is attempting to determine the number of hours students spend
watching television per day. The population for the survey was a large school, so he suggested
using a sample size of two classrooms. The mean ended up being five hours. The video does an
excellent job of defining the three terms and providing a scenario for context; however, I wish it
would have spent a little more time discussing sample size and why he deemed it appropriate for
the survey. In other words, I was left wondering if there is a specific percentage of participants
that should be represented from a given population.
Video Option 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBtNBVy42M&feature=related
This video examines the use of simple random sampling (SRS) when conducting a survey. The
video defines simple random sampling as those that allow individuals and sets of individuals an
equal chance of being selected. The example that he uses is the selection of 50 random students
at a high school. This would represent simple random sample if each students had an equal
chance of being selected as well as an equal chance that all might come from a specific grade
level or mixture of grade levels (sets). The video then moves into an analysis of the pros and
cons of using simple random sampling. The pros of SRS include being unbiased and relatively
easy to accomplish. The cons include results that can vary quite substantially and samples that
might not be representative of the population as a whole. The narrator also mentions sampling
frames as a con, but fails to fully describe what that means.
From there, the video moves into the methods for carrying out simple random sampling. The first
method is to draw random names out of a hat. He notes the importance of not putting names back
into the hat once they have been drawn. The second method is called a random digit table. This is
basically a table of random numbers that correlate to the individuals in a population. Some
numbers will be drawn that do not match with individuals, but the evaluator can simply continue
the process until the desired sample size is reached. The final method is to use a random number
generator. This is an electronic tool (calculator, computer, etc.) that can provide a random set of
integers that link back to a participant. Random number generation reminds me a bit of the NBA
draft lottery where numbers are selected to choose the order in which teams will draft. The only
difference is the chance is not equal for all teams as the ones with less wins are given more balls
(numbers) that can be drawn.