Hi Folks –
Last class. Last time. Last podcast.
Its been fun and you all did a great job. Thanks for your participation. One last thing — assess yourselves, based on the goals you sent me at the beginning of the course. Send it to me by email.
Good luck.
Kevin
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May 7, 2010 at 3:51 am |
I am uploading my Final Project in my UNM My Page Blog.
May 7, 2010 at 3:53 am |
You’ll find my Final Project on the UNM My Pages blog.
May 12, 2010 at 5:32 am |
Using Excel for Statistics
Analysis
This course will address the problem of providing a means for students taking Statistics at the Central Community College of New Mexico (CNM) with an alternative way, using Excel 2007, to work on homework and tests when they do not have access to their TI84 calculators. The goal is to aid these students in being able to work on homework and other assignments when they have a computer available that has Excel 2007 instead of their TI84 calculator. The objective is not to completely replace the calculator, but to offer an alternative. In some cases using Excel 2007, or even Excel 2003, may be preferable to the TI84 calculator as it is usually already available on most computers and will not cost the students any additional money. This is not a stand-alone Statistics course. It is meant to be a tool, in addition to being a course to teach the necessary skills, that the students can return to as often as needed to be able to feel comfortable with and to effectively use Excel for their homework assignments. It is expected that the students using this course will change as semesters change. The course will be advertised through the CNM instructors and the students who use it.
It was decided that using a blog is the best delivery method as it is easy to access using the Internet from almost any computer, at any time. The course will be available at 24 hours a day, seven days per week so students can use it whenever they have the opportunity to work on assignments. The students will be able to learn and review information from it as long as they have Internet access and a computer with Excel 2007 or 2003. One problem students might have if the computer has Excel 2003 instead of 2007 is that some of the formulas and data analysis tools may be in slightly different locations. A simple search using the “help” option in Excel should take care of this quickly and easily. The Data Analysis Tool Pack has to be part of the Excel software program. This may have to be downloaded onto the computer. The act of doing so is relatively easy and instructions are available using the “help” option in Excel. If the computer the students are using is in a public location (like a library), it is possible the students will have trouble gaining permission to download this. However, they can ask the library management or other public location authorities about the possibility of doing so. The students will have the opportunity to read about the processes necessary to find and use the formulas and data analysis tools. Some basic computer skills will be needed. A minimal familiarity with Microsoft Excel will be helpful, although the introduction phase of the course will provide the students with this information for those who need to become familiar with the program or need to review how to use Excel. There will also be examples that they can work through in order to become familiar with the various formulas and data analysis tools-their location in Excel, what information they will need, and what type of problems these items can solve. The students can return to the blog as often as they wish to review the information and example or to move on to a new type of problem, formula, or data analysis tool.
CNM students come from a variety of backgrounds. There will be age differences, different education backgrounds, and experiential differences. The differences in experience will not only be in the area of Statistics, but also in the use of computers and Microsoft Excel. This means that the course must provide the basics for those who are unfamiliar with using a computer for a self-regulated course as well as using Microsoft Excel. At the same time the course must be designed so that those who are more familiar with computer use and Microsoft Excel will not be bored by the instructions and overlook important information. The site needs to provide information on particular problem solving techniques quickly and easily so that the student has time to work on the actual homework problems. Time will be of the essence for these students, otherwise they could just wait until they get home or wherever they left their calculator to do it. Because Statistics is a very difficult and frustrating class for many students, it is important that the site offers a comfortable setting that gives a sense of being in control of their learning process. This sense of control will boost their confidence, which in turn will make them more willing to try using Excel as a problem-solving tool. The students will likely be contacting their instructors using their online class discussion areas or during face-to-face conversations, as well as through the communication channels designed into the site, with comments and questions about things they find on the site so the.
The students will likely be contacting their instructors using their online class discussion areas or during face-to-face conversations, as well as through the communication channels designed into the site, with comments and questions about things they find on the site so the instructors must be familiar with the site and be supportive of its use. The four instructors who are worked with me on the idea of the site vary in teaching experience. One has strictly face-to-face instruction experience, two have a mixture of face-to-face instruction experience, and the last one has only taught online classes. All agree that students often find themselves needing to do homework in odd places and at odd times in their busy schedules. Two of them had already started searching for online assistance for their students and was giving out what they found one piece at a time. There was no formal site for the students to access the information or the opportunity to work examples using Excel before attempting the homework problems. They were interested in the idea of a common site for these activities, but had not done anything about it. The instructors helping to manage this site are generally more familiar with the calculator as a means for solving the homework problems, so they are an excellent group to contribute information about the accuracy and efficiency of the instructions and examples.
The blog will be an ongoing project. The initial phase will take approximately six weeks to finish. After that, input from the students and the Statistics instructors will be used to update and improve the blog and all of its parts. Internet links to items will have to be continuously tested to confirm that the sites are still available. As the original linked sites become unavailable they will be removed and new ones located and added to the blog. The instructors will review the new sites for relevancy and usability before they are added to the site.
Design
Learning Objectives
After viewing the appropriate sections of the course that corresponds to the homework problems the students are working on, the students will be able to solve these homework problems using Excel as correctly and as fast as if they were using a TI84 calculator.
After viewing the information and working the examples provided on the blog site, the students will be able to navigate through Excel’s formulas and data analysis tools without frustration.
After working the examples, the students will be able to select the formula or data analysis tool that will work best for the problem they are trying to solve.
Assessment Instruments
There are no graded tests in this course. The object is for the students to use the examples to practice using and to self-assess their understanding of where to locate the formula or data analysis tool and to determine what type of problem can be solved best with which particular formula or data analysis tool. The students will be able to listen or read the instructions and rework the examples as often as needed to become familiar with the necessary steps to access and use the formulas or data analysis tools. Once the student feels comfortable that they are able to use Excel to solve the type of problem discussed and worked in an individual lesson, they will be able to either continue to work examples for other types of problems or use their knowledge to solve similar problems found in their assignment. Cognitively, the students will be gaining new knowledge and be able to use it appropriately. Affectively, the students will gain confidence and become comfortable using this knowledge in a practical way by solving homework assignments.
Content
The content for this course will include basic information on Excel to assist those who are not familiar with the program. It will also include specific information about the various formulas and data analysis tools that are available to solve Statistics problems. Examples of problems that can be solved by the various formulas and data analysis tools will be provided for practice. Links to outside videos and lectures will be provided to give the students additional information and methods of delivery of content found on the blog. A list of the available formulas and data analysis tools will be on a single page with links to the worked example problems that use them. Content will be updated, added to, and improved on as feedback is received from the instructors of the Statistics courses and the students indicating that there is a need to do so. A separate page for questions and feedback will be provided and monitored so that no question or comment goes without a response within 24 hours of its posting. Contact information for the instructors, the online tutoring help available from CNM, and the designer will be placed on a separate page and kept at the top of the page index. Audio recordings will be placed in each separate page with the instructions for that page’s formula or data analysis tool. A printable version of these instructions will also be available on that page. The stated example problem will be placed below these two options in order to avoid distraction. Pictures of the Excel spreadsheet and the formula or data analysis tool data entry and result boxes as they evolve when working the example problem will be provided to assist the students in working the example. These pictures will be located in a link directly under the stated example problem.
Communication between all users, both students and instructors, will be very important. The students will have the option of providing contact information to other users. This contact information can be used to set up meeting times to work together via personal e-mail or the blog discussion area, either in a more traditional face-to-face setting or by using a synchronous communication tool to work together. Due to lack of funding it was not determined what communication tool would be used. The instructors and I also had concerns about the ability of the students to use a communication tool we selected without formal training, which would add to their busy schedules.
In order to provide additional support for their students, two of the instructors search YouTube for short instructional films on using Excel for Statistics. They chose YouTube because they knew it was a site their students visited often and would feel comfortable using. To help the students take notes on what they were learning on the site, StudyStack was selected as an optional Web 2.0 tool. This tool allows the students to create their own flashcards using their own words and examples. Again, because of the students’ busy schedules and the purpose of this course being that the students would be able to access the information whenever and wherever they had computer access; it was decided to not use too many medias to start with. Once there is more funding and more space for a variety of medias.
Graphics
The introduction would remain the focus of the opening page for any newcomers to the site. The pages containing contact information, the question and feedback area, links to outside information sources, and information about specific formulas and data analysis tools will be located to the side of the introduction. The chosen template will offer colors that invite, but do not distract the viewer or cause health issues, like migraines. Light and medium blue, green, and purple shades are preferred. Times New Roman, 12 point, will be used for ease of reading both on the screen and when printed for the introduction and the instructions. Other fonts and sizes will be selected to guide the user to items of importance. The entire blog will be routinely evaluated for its ability to invite, instruct, and assist the user and changes will be made as they are deemed necessary.
The first step in designing this course was to find a blog that was easily accessible to the instructors, the students, and the designer. One concern was the amount of personal information the individuals would need to provide in order to have the necessary access to use the information and to be able to communicate questions and comments to all users. The next step was to create an introduction that would give students an opportunity to realize the potential for using Excel for their Statistics homework the way they would use their calculator. The other important part of the introduction was to provide basic information about Excel for anyone unfamiliar with using the options in Excel, like formulas and data analysis tools, and entering information into the cells. Pages for the various lessons had to be created and listed in a manner that made it possible for students to find instructions and examples for specific types of problems easily and quickly. Links to outside information, such as videos and lectures, had to be found and then evaluated for relevancy and accuracy, before being added to the site. The example problems needed to be worked and Captivate! used to take the pictures, at each new step of the process, of the Excel spreadsheets and formula or data analysis tool results boxes that will be added later as a part of the presentation of how to solve the example. This option provides step-by-step examples of what the students should be seeing as they work the problem. Audacity will be used for the recordings that auditory users might require. The Captivate! pictures of the processes and the audacity recordings will be stored on the blog within the page dedicated to a relevant and specific problem, formula, or data analysis tool.
Development
Word Press was selected for the blog site. The course is entitled simply “Using Excel for Statistics”. Word Press offered the option of making this a public site which made it easy for students to access it. A fee is charged to the blog managers for the ability to store the pictured processes and audio recordings within the blog.
Implementation
The instructors who will help maintain the site and to maintain communication with the students are familiar with blogs and required little training to participate. Initial information was sent by e-mail to them. They will have contact information for the original designer and with Word Press should there be questions about how to add or change information. Initially, a small group of students and instructors, the learner analysis team, will go online to determine if there are any changes needed before opening this prototype to the public. There is no registration. This is an open course. Students will receive instructions on how to use the site and Excel in the introduction which will be available at all times. Private answers to any questions and comments will be sent to the e-mail address provided for this purpose by the students. In addition, students will have the question and feedback page to ask for more public answers to questions regarding problems with any part of the site or the links to outside sources or to make comments about the course.
Evaluation
Evaluation will be ongoing, from the learner analysis team assessments, to the future users. Formatively, evaluation will be based on the questions and comments provided by the students and the instructors. The maintenance team will also be evaluating the course on a regular basis to determine if they see any changes that need to be made. The instructors will ask regularly their students for feedback about if and how they use the site. They will ask the students for their opinion of how well the site’s information assisted them in solving the homework problems. These findings will then be compiled and used to determine what changes are needed. The students’ class grades will be considered along with the findings about how the students used the site to see if usage of the site can be related to student success.
Learning Philosophy
I believe that adult learners are a very unique group of learners. They are generally living a very busy life that involves a balancing act of working a job, going to school, family responsibilities, and maintaining social relationships. Anything that helps these students succeed in their educational goals is a plus. I also believe that self-motivated and self-regulated adult students learn best. This course would provide an opportunity for adult students faced with what most students feel is a very difficult and confusing class a chance to learn in a very individual way by utilizing any of the various modes of learning (audio, video, visual examples, and hands-on experience) to succeed regardless of their preferred type of learning. The confidence built by mentoring instructors and success a Statistics course will help them face those challenges successfully. Confidence, or a lack of it, is why many of the students at CNM are there. They do not have the type of family relationships or the type of experiences in their elementary, middle or high school years that build a sense that they can succeed academically. The instructors will provide a form of mentoring by communicating with the students whenever the student indicates they are in need of assistance or encouragement. Education does not end with graduation and a diploma. Life is waiting to challenge the student as they enter the workforce and continue their lives after school. Confidence will be the key to surviving the challenges.
March 4, 2011 at 5:39 pm |
Wow. what a comment. More of a paper i guess…. I found your site. Where’s my peppermint?