group task due on 27june08

Research question:

· The level of participation in forum is positvely related to the friendship/relatiionship between classmates

There are 2 possible ways to collect data:

· Questionaire for students and teachers to collect how many times they login to the forum and how long they will stay in the forum

· Use the admin function from the forum to track the user name and duration time for each login

Independent:

· level of participation

Dependent:

· friendship/relationship between classmate

Improvement in education teaching and learning:

· Once the result support participation in forum can enhance the relationship within classmates, students themselves can build up their own peer to peer collaboration and to build up a knowledge forum within themselves.

Experimental Research Proposal

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Correlation Research Proposal Re-do

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Corrleation Research proposal presentation

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Link

Correlation Research proposal

http://www.slideshare.net/patricklamhc/correlation-research-3-b-20070621
Research topic: The use of forum in Social Studies learning

Background: Forum becomes popular in the field of educational. In Social Studies, in particularly, discussion forum is blended in the learning process in order to replace the traditional didactic way of teaching. However, the correlation between the use of forum and learning outcomes is unsure.

Research question: The use of forum can improve the academic achievement in Social Studies

Hypothesis: The level of participation in forum is positively related to the academic achievement in Social Studies

Research sub-questions:
1. The number of note read positively related to the academic achievement in Social Studies
2. The number of note contributed positively related to the academic achievement in Social Studies

Independent/ predictor variable: the level of participation in forum (notes read and notes contributed)
Dependent/ criterion variable: the academic achievement in Social Studies (test score)

Population: Grade 5 (a total of 3 mixed-ability classes, 30 students at each class)
Sample: 1 class
Measuring scale: interval (test score)

Data collection
2 units of inquiry will be conducted. They are also the two research cycles. Each unit lasts 4 weeks. At each unit, discussion forum (Knowledge Forum) is integrated into the pedagogy. After each unit, a test is given to all students. The test score measured in this research is the average of the 2 tests. The notes read and contributed measured in this research is the average of the 2 cycles.

Constant:
1. gender of student (mixed gender in the class)
2. age (P.5 is selected, generally aged 10-11)

Statistical measures:
Mean, median, mode, standard deviation
Pearson's r (correlation coefficient)

Endnote: a research tool for literature management

Our group has identified Endnote as a research tool for literature management.

Please read the slides for some sample functions and our evaluation.

Click the above image or you can go to http://www.slideshare.net/patricklamhc/endnote-by-3-b-20080613/ for details

Data Mining Tools (kit)

Dear all,

we need to find a data mining tools and need to have a short presentation of it in next class. I have found some of them. Please have a look each of us suggest 1 of the them and then we decide which one we are going to use for next class.

http://www.rulequest.com/

http://www.spss.com/data%5Fmining/

http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/book.html

http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka/

http://www.ailab.si/orange/

http://www.togaware.com/datamining/gdatamine/

http://www.sas.com/technologies/analytics/datamining/miner/

http://www.the-data-mine.com/bin/view/Software/DataMiningSoftware


Please have a look and PLEASE give your suggestion latest by MONDAY, then we can prepare our ppt for next class

cheers

kit

Literature Review (Patrick Lam): knowledge builing and conceptual change

Gan, Y. & Zhu, Z. (2007). A learning framework for knowledge building and collective wisdom advancement in virtual learning communities. Educational Technology & Society, 10(1), 206-226.


Knowledge Building: production and continual improvement of ideas of value to a community, it is a form of collaborative creation of new knowledge, it is a process for collective wisdom advancement; its success lies on 4 factors:
1. information and communication technologies
2. e-learning
3. knowledge management
4. virutal learning communities (VLC)

On-line collaboration is a key force in collective wisdom continuum:
individual MI --- collaborative intelligence --- collective intelligence --- collective wisdom

Collective intelligence: reasons
Collective wisdom: knowledge, insight, judgement

Different levels (process) of knowledge building/ collective wisdom advancement at VLC
Level 1: Divergent thinking (idea gathering/ brain storming):
question, explanation, clarification
communication process: monologue
zone of actual development
Level 2: Divergent to convergent thinking
debate, collaborative problem-solving
communication process: dialogue
zone of proximal development
Level 3: Convergent thinking
synthesis, problem-solved
communication process: resonance
zone of potential development

Critique:
Appreciation:
1. Each stage of the wisdom continuum is well-defined.
2. Vygotsky's learning theory is used in the VLC analysis : smart!
3. The functionality of VLC is clearly described.
4. It is convincing that collaborative effort is important in learning
Areas of concern:
1. The process of knowledge building/ collective wisdom advancement at VLC is over simplified. It is because the process is not static. The completion of Level 3 can go back to Level 1 or 2 for exploration of further issues. Therefore, the zone of actual/ proximal/ potential development may not be static too. After Level 3 as zone of potential development (eg. synthesis, reflection), a new set of inquiry questions may be aroused and students may go back to Level 1 or 2 for extended inquiry.
2. The paper describes the general process of knowledge building. However, the paper does not mention how one's concept or understanding is changed/ sharpened/ deepened during the process of knowledge building.
3. The factors contributing to the conceptual change during the knowledge building or at the VLC are overlooked.

Literature review of group 3B

Focus of the research
• Why schools introduce widespread use of ICT?
• Some schools have “less success”, why?
• All staff are using ICT to enhance and extend learning in their subject area
• How to reduce the gap between “actual use” and “potential use”
Methodology
• Multi-method approach:- individual staff members- departments- whole school level
• Method used:- interview- questionaire- documentation- observation
Case study
• School A- comprehensive, mixed, community school serving students from age 11-18.- 1888 students- 80 staff- rural setting- wide catchment area >100sq miles- “Sports College” status
Research findings
• External influences- school vs external factors (how to react)- react à choice- choice à opportunity
Research findings
• Characteristics of the whole school, staff and internal process
• ICT implementation process: key events and characteristics
Data collection from school
• Four approaches to data collection:- strong leadership / high expectation from staff- “excellent” in many aspects, not only ICT.- +ve ethos and collaborative culture- well motivated and caring staff
Characteristics & ICT implementation process
• Key events: Key infrastructure- new buildings, appointment of key staff, resources allocation for ICT, training program, etc.
• Characteristics of the process- quality of management / leadership- access to resources- training & support- development à a long term process
Key strands- quality of people- resources- training & support




Tearle, P. (2003). ICT implementation: what makes the difference. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34(5), 567-583.