Unit 5 – Analyzing Data
Discussion Board
Research Project on Human Performance
The selected topic is the preferred teaching methods and styles of online instructors and the problem is comparing these methods and styles to support implications on student performance. Teaching methods and styles target different learning objectives for students and the selection of the effective teaching methods and styles should align with the target of the course handled by an instructor (Gay, Mills & Airasian, 2005).
The statement of the problem is as follows. The processes or tools involved in teaching affects the performance of students in class. This is so in face-to-face learning. While this is also true for online learning, the technological context led to the development of various teaching tools and methods addressing different learning objectives. Teachers in online learning have different teaching tools and methods to choose from and the selection should consider the online learning environment and the learning objectives as contextual considerations.
The rationale for the research is the comparison of the teaching methods and tools employed by online instructors and determine implications on student performance and the requirements of the course or course objectives. Results should determine the teaching tools and methods that result in the best student performance and the tools and methods requiring improvement given the requirements of the course and learning objectives (Towne, Wise & Winters, 2004).
Although many studies focus on the evaluation of the use and effectiveness of different teaching tools and methods, there is limited knowledge on the similarities and differences in the tools and methods employed by the online instructors. Educational institutions provide guidelines in teaching tools but leave the selection and delivery of these tools and methods to the instructors so that learning from different instructors of the same source could lead to different student performance.
The target audience for the research is the educational institution developing the curriculum and teaching standards together with teachers of online course in education. Students also comprise a secondary audience for the research.
Approaching the topic through a quantitative or qualitative study has advantages and disadvantages. Using a quantitative study would provide measurable data to support a comparative study and the link between teaching tools and methods with student performance. However, focusing on measurable data would be at the cost of obtaining descriptions of the experiences of teachers with different online teaching tools and methods and the selection of particular methods. Using a qualitative study would derive information on the perspective of teachers over the selection of particular methods to explain or even justify the use of particular methods. However, this is not sufficient to achieve a comparison of teaching tools and methods to determine relative effectiveness in affecting student performance. (Creswell, 2003) This means the selection of one approach or the mixed method could be an option.
Ethical considerations in conducting the proposed project include maintaining confidentiality of the respondents to ensure voluntary participation in the study. Another ethical issue is ensuring objectivity in the data collection and analysis methods by following the research plan and research standards. (Creswell, 2003)
References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Gay, L., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2005). Educational research: competencies for analysis and applications (8th ed.). New York: Prentice Hall.
Towne, L., Wise, L., & Winters, T. (2004). Advancing scientific research in education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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