Project Strategy

This project has a number of aspects that can be studied simultaneously and independently. This approach allows for a great deal of implementation and measurement flexibility. Although some of the variables are interrelated it is not detrimental to the study since the purpose is to increase awareness and knowledge of scientific research among students and teachers.

The project has five foci: the use of whiteboards in classroom lectures, the intetration of a classroom web site into the teaching and learning environment, the use of PowerPoint presentations in science lectures, a performance–based research project for physics students, and a pure scientific research study conducted by the teacher.

There is a web page devoted to each of the five foci. Each page contains the strategy being employed in that portion of the study. You may access those pages by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink in the preceding paragraph.

The major thrust of the project is to determine whether or not student attitude and achievement are affected by the use of modern presentation techniques in the science classroom. Toward the end of the study student test scores will be compared from the baseline year (2000-2001) to the current year (2001-2002) to determine if a positive correlation exists between presentation technique and performance. The same tests will be administered each academic year and will be graded based on the same rubric with no score adjustment (curve).

Student attitude (acceptance) toward each change in presentation technique will be measured for each segment of the project. The baseline for change in student attitude is the beginning of the academic year when none of the techniques were present.

Data is collected at many different times througout the project. The web page for each segment of the study specifies the type of data collected and the time when it is collected.

The chairperson of our school's science department is fully aware of this study and supports it wholeheartedly. He aided in securing funding for the grant proposal I submitted to the district for the purchase of a laptop computer and large screen monitor. He also supported the conversion of the classroom chalkboard into a whiteboard and is very interested in its usefullness and success. As a client of this study, the science department can substantially benefit from many of the findings herein.

The students of Williamsport Area High School are subject to a number of different teaching strategies. The techniques being employed in this study are not drastically diffferent than any other they may encounter on daily basis. Application has been made to Lock Haven University for appoval of this study since it involves human subjects who are under the age of eighteen. Students and their parents gave express permission for their name and image to appear on the web site related to this study.

The surveys that students fill out do not require a name. This also allows students to have complete anonymity in their reporting. The surveys are tabulated as a cohort and responses given on each survey are not correlated to an individual student in any way.

Students who are involved with this study will be aware of changes made to the learning environment. These changes are obvious but students do not have knowledge that they are part of a study. This eliminates a great deal of bias, increasing the validity of the study.

Data for the study is kept in hard copy format whenever possible. Original surveys, questionairres, and tests are held in a separate location from the data gleaned from them. The summary of all data is stored on a computer hard drive and regularly uploaded to an off site web server for retreival by the author and general public. The server has a substantial firewall and access requires a password that only the author knows.