Although colleges and universities have utilized distance learning (i.e., online classes) for many years, teaching kindergarten through 12th-grade students using an online platform is much rarer. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic of 2020 forced K-12 schools throughout the world to turn to distance learning to teach children under 18. But how effective is an online curriculum for children who are only familiar with physical classrooms? To answer this question, your local school district asks you to conduct a series of studies focusing on the new distance learning curriculum they developed to teach K-12 students. Fortunately, the school district does have a control group option available to you should you need it. That is, some classrooms can use in-person instruction as the school has adequate safety measures in place to protect these students. The school administrator who hired you has four goals (though only the first goal must be addressed in all study designs):
• First, the school administrator must know if online students are adequately learning material appropriate for their age group (as measured by an end-of-semester exam that all students must pass).
• Second, the administrator would like to know if the curriculum they developed works equally well across students with different computer experience (experienced versus inexperienced).
• Third, the administrator would like to know if students are improving as they progress through the semester.
• Fourth, the administrator would like to know if the curriculum helps male and female students equally.
The school administrator recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic is temporary but that other pandemics might occur in the future, or K-12 schools might naturally evolve an online component. Thus, the administrator would like to know how well distance learning students perform over the next four calendar years.
Assignment Instructions:
You have come up with a series of studies to test the administrator’s goals.
• Use the information in the study designs presented below to determine whether the design involves a posttest-only between-groups design, a pretest-posttest between groups design, a matched pairs design, a block design, a within-group design (pretest, posttest), or a longitudinal design.
• Determine if the study meets the first goal of the administrator.
• Determine whether the study meets at least one other goal, and if not, describe how you would alter the study design to meet at least one other administrator goal.
Scenario A
You design a study where you randomly assign students to one of two conditions. In one condition, students take the curriculum fully online. In the second condition, they take the curriculum fully in person. However, because you think familiarity and experience with computers might impact how students adapt to fully online classes, you first find students who are experienced with computers as well as students who are not experienced with computers. To make sure the two conditions are composed of students who share similar traits and abilities, you pair up experienced computer users and send one to Condition 1 and the other to Condition 2. You do the same for the next pair (and the next). You also pair up students who are not experienced with computers and similarly assign one to Condition 1 and the other to Condition 2. Here, the independent variable is the condition (online versus in-person teaching), and the dependent variable(s) is the extent to which the child learns the age-appropriate material (as measured by passing the final exam and/or assignments).
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Scenario B
You design a study where you randomly assign students to one of two conditions. In one condition, students take the curriculum fully online. In the second condition, they take the curriculum fully in person. All students take a pretest at the start of the semester and a post-test at the end of the semester. Here, there are two independent variables. One is the type of course (online versus in person), and the second is timing (pretest at the start of the semester versus post-test at the end of the semester). The dependent variable(s) is the extent to which the child learns the age-appropriate material (as measured by passing the final exam and/or assignments).
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Scenario C
You design a study where you randomly assign students to one of two conditions. In one condition, children will have in-person instruction in a physical classroom. In the second condition, the children will have online instruction. Both conditions will use the same curriculum, though the online version is remote. The independent variable will be the condition (in person or online), and the dependent variable(s) will be the extent to which the child learns the age-appropriate material (as measured by passing the final exam and/or assignments).
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Scenario D
You design a study where you randomly assign students to one of two conditions. In one condition, children will have in-person instruction in a physical classroom. In the second condition, the children will have online instruction. However, you first match students on multiple key characteristics that you think might impact their learning. In this case, you focus on their computer experience and gender. That is, you pair students with the same computer experience and then randomly assign one member of each pair to the online condition and the other member to the in-person condition.
Similarly, you pair inexperienced students, you pair males, and you pair females, and once again assign one member of each pair to the online condition and the other to the in-person condition. You do this for all students. Thus, male experienced computer users, male inexperienced computer users, female experienced computer users, and female inexperienced computer users are present in both online and in-person classes. The dependent variable(s) is the extent to which the child learns the age-appropriate material (as measured by passing the final exam and/or assignments).
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Scenario E
Unfortunately, you find that the school district cannot give you an adequate in-person comparison group; therefore, all students will participate in the new online curriculum. Since they still want your help to assess the program’s effectiveness, you decide to do so by assessing student knowledge at the start of the semester and comparing it to their knowledge at the end of the semester. The dependent variable(s) is the extent to which the child learns the age-appropriate material (as measured by passing the final exam and/or assignments).
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Scenario F
You design a study where you randomly assign students to one of two conditions. In one condition, children will have in-person instruction in a physical classroom. In the second condition, the children will have online instruction. Fortunately, your study design allows you to follow and assess both sets of students multiple times over four years. Even as the students advance from one grade to the next, your study will determine if taking classes online helps or hurts their ability to pass assignments and final exams (the dependent variables in this study). The independent variables would be (a) the varying amounts of times assessments are taken (quarterly, mid-semester, end of the semester, the following semester, the next school year, etc.) and (b) the two conditions, in-person and online instruction.
1. This study best describes which of the six research designs described in this lesson? Explain your response, including how this study design meets the first administrator goal.
2. Does this design meet any of the other administrator goals?
• If yes, which one and why?
• If no, how could you redesign the study to meet at least one other administrator goal?
Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages
References: Include a minimum of 3 scholarly resources.
The completed assignment should address all of the assignment requirements, exhibit evidence of concept knowledge, and demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the content presented in the course. The writing should integrate scholarly resources, reflect academic expectations and current APA standards, and adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.