Results
Of the 20
Likert-style questions about what teachers would like to see modeled
on video via the Internet, only 4 questions had an average of greater
than 4. The two top responses, questions 18 and 20, had mean scores
of 4.16. Question 18 stated, “A teacher doing an inquiry based
lesson.” and question 20 was, “A teacher doing an inquiry
based lesson with traditionally low achieving students.” The next
two highest scoring responses were question 7 with a 4.13 mean and question
8 with a 4.14 mean. Question 8 was, “A teacher using the WWW in
class as something other than a resource.” Question 7 was, “A
teacher doing inquiry science in a class that includes students with
special needs.” A p-value was calculated between the top, 4.16,
and bottom, 4.13, score in this upper cluster. This p-value is .40,
which shows that there is not a significant difference between these
mean scores. A p-value was calculated between the bottom score in the
upper cluster, 4.13, and the next highest score, 3.96. This was calculated
as a one-sided p-value, checking only to see if the upper score is higher,
and the p-value is .045 which shows that this upper cluster is set apart.
This indicated the upper cluster, which primarily deals with the application
of inquiry-based teaching, is what science teachers in North Carolina
are most interested in seeing modeled on the Internet via video. All
the rest of the questions had averages between 3.42 and 3.81. (See Table
4). Since all the questions had means above 3, there was not anything
that the teachers summarily rejected, but the inquiry-based teaching
questions elicited the highest responses. Table 4 indicates the total
number of responses to each question; this does not always total 144
because some teachers skipped individual questions and two teachers
failed to fill out the backside of the survey. For a complete list of
the questions see Appendix 1.
Table 4
Responses to questions, all
respondents
| Questions |
Responses |
|
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
Mean |
1 |
12
(.08) |
13
(.09) |
37
(.26) |
50
(.35) |
32
(.22) |
144
|
3.53 |
2 |
13
(.09) |
17
(.12) |
27
(.19) |
46
(.32) |
41
(.28) |
144
|
3.59 |
3 |
12
(.08) |
9
(.06) |
38
(.27) |
46
(.32) |
38
(.27) |
143
|
3.62 |
4 |
11
(.08) |
14
(.10) |
29
(.20) |
44
(.31) |
46
(.32) |
144
|
3.69 |
5 |
16
(.11) |
12
(.08) |
30
(.21) |
40
(.28) |
46
(.32) |
144
|
3.61 |
6 |
6
(.04) |
10
(.07) |
30
(.21) |
59
(.42) |
35
(.25) |
140
|
3.76 |
7 |
3
(.02) |
7
(.05) |
19
(.13) |
53
(.27) |
60
(.42) |
142
|
4.13 |
8 |
3
(.02) |
4
(.03) |
23
(.17) |
49
(.36) |
59
(.43) |
138
|
4.14 |
9 |
5
(.04) |
14
(.10) |
31
(.22) |
51
(.36) |
41
(.29) |
142
|
3.77 |
10 |
8
(.06) |
14
(.10) |
31
(.22) |
44
(.31) |
45
(.32) |
142
|
3.73 |
11 |
15
(.11) |
12
(.08) |
31
(.22) |
38
(.27) |
46
(.32) |
142
|
3.62 |
12 |
8
(.06) |
15
(.11) |
40
(.29) |
44
(.31) |
33
(.24) |
140
|
3.56 |
13 |
5
(.04) |
7
(.05) |
39
(.28) |
45
(.33) |
42
(.31) |
138
|
3.81 |
14 |
7
(.05) |
14
(.10) |
37
(.26) |
44
(.31) |
38
(.27) |
140
|
3.66 |
15 |
5
(.04) |
11
(.08) |
38
(.27) |
45
(.32) |
42
(.30) |
141
|
3.77 |
16 |
10
(.07) |
20
(.14) |
42
(.30) |
38
(.27) |
31
(.22) |
141
|
3.42 |
17 |
14
(.10) |
8
(.06) |
26
(.18) |
42
(.30) |
51
(.36) |
141
|
3.77 |
18 |
4
(.03) |
5
(.04) |
19
(.13) |
49
(.35) |
64
(.45) |
141
|
4.16 |
19 |
9
(.06) |
8
(.06) |
23
(.16) |
41
(.29) |
61
(.42) |
142
|
3.96 |
20 |
7
(.05) |
4
(.03) |
17
(.12) |
44
(.31) |
69
(.48) |
141
|
4.16 |
21 |
1
(.01) |
0
(.00) |
9
(.07) |
43
(.32) |
83
(.61) |
136
|
4.52 |
When looking only at the data
returned by the middle school teachers, the responses followed a similar
path to the responses by the whole group. The biggest difference was
the response to question number 11, which was in reference to students
creating web pages as part of class. The middle school teachers expressed
much more interest in this, a 4.22 average response, than did high school
teachers, a 3.24 average response. That was the second lowest average
response for high school teachers while being the fifth highest for
the middle school teachers. (See Table 5).
Table 5
Responses to questions, Middle
School Respondents
| Questions |
Responses |
|
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
Mean |
1 |
5
(.09) |
5
(.09) |
12 (.21) |
20
(.36) |
14
(.25) |
56
|
3.59 |
2 |
2
(.04) |
7
(.13) |
11
(.20) |
13
(.23) |
23
(.41) |
56
|
3.86
|
3 |
3
(.05) |
2
(.04) |
15
(.27) |
18
(.33) |
17
(.31) |
55
|
3.80
|
4 |
2
(.04) |
3
(.05) |
11
(.20) |
17
(.30) |
23
(.41) |
56 |
4.00 |
5 |
4
(.07) |
2
(.02) |
13
(.23) |
11
(.20) |
26
(.46) |
56
|
3.95 |
6 |
1
(.02) |
2
(.04) |
12
(.22) |
21
(.39) |
18
(.33) |
54
|
3.98
|
7 |
2
(.04) |
2
(.04) |
2
(.04) |
18
(.33) |
31
(.56) |
55
|
4.35
|
8 |
0
(.00) |
2
(.04) |
5
(.10) |
18
(.35) |
27
(.52) |
52
|
4.35 |
9 |
1
(.02) |
2
(.04) |
11
(.20) |
17
(.31) |
24
(.44) |
55
|
4.11 |
10 |
1
(.02) |
2
(.04) |
16
(.29) |
10
(.18) |
26
(.47) |
55
|
4.05 |
11 |
2
(.04) |
2
(.04) |
8
(.15) |
13
(.24) |
30
(.55) |
55
|
4.22 |
12 |
0
(.00) |
4
(.07) |
15
(.27) |
14
(.25) |
22
(.40) |
55
|
3.98 |
13 |
2
(.04) |
1
(.02) |
13
(.24) |
18
(.33) |
21
(.38) |
55
|
4.00 |
14 |
2
(.04) |
6
(.22) |
14
(.26) |
10
(.19) |
22
(.41) |
54
|
3.81
|
15 |
1
(.02) |
2
(.04) |
17
(.31) |
15
(.27) |
20
(.36) |
55
|
3.93 |
16 |
2
(.04) |
4
(.07) |
16
(.29) |
16
(.29) |
17
(.31) |
55
|
3.76 |
17 |
3
(.05) |
3
(.05) |
8
(.15 ) |
12
(.22) |
29
(.53) |
55
|
4.11 |
18 |
2
(.04) |
1
(.02) |
7
(.13) |
11
(.20) |
34
(.62) |
55
|
4.35 |
19 |
3
(.05) |
4
(.07) |
6
(.11) |
13
(.24) |
29
(.53) |
55
|
4.11 |
20 |
1
(.02) |
2
(.04) |
7
(.13) |
11
(.20) |
34
(.62) |
55 |
4.36 |
21 |
0
(.00) |
0
(.00) |
4
(.07) |
11
(.20) |
39(.72) |
54 |
4.65 |
Percentages of responses
in each category shown in parenthesis
As a group, the middle school
teachers had a higher average response on corresponding questions than
did the high school teachers. There was, however, a positive correlation
of .77 between the two groups. This seems to indicate that middle and
high school teachers are interested in learning about the same strategies
and technology applications. The higher scores by the middle school
teachers could indicate that they are more interested in the corresponding
topics than the high school teachers, or that they simply have a more
positive attitude.
The high school responses
again followed the pattern of the overall responses and that of the
middle school responses. The next highest response for the high school
group, however, was very different than that of the middle school teachers.
After the first four, the next response for the high school teachers
was to question 19, which referred to a teacher preparing/setting up
for an inquiry based lab or lesson. This followed very closely with
the theme of three of the top four responses that also referred to inquiry
based lessons. For complete high school results see Table 6.
Table 6
Responses to questions, High
School Respondents
| Questions |
Responses |
|
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
Mean |
1 |
7 (.08) |
8 (.09) |
25 (.28) |
30
(.34) |
18
(.20) |
88
|
3.50 |
2 |
11
(.13) |
10
(.11) |
16
(.18) |
33
(.38) |
18
(.20) |
88 |
3.42
|
3 |
9
(.10) |
7
(.08) |
23
(.26) |
28
(.32) |
21
(.24) |
88 |
3.51 |
4 |
9
(.10) |
11
(.13) |
18
(.20) |
27
(.31) |
23
(.26) |
88
|
3.50 |
5 |
12
(.14) |
10
(.11) |
17
(.19) |
29
(.33) |
20
(.33) |
88
|
3.40 |
6 |
5
(.06) |
8
(.09) |
18
(.21) |
38
(.44) |
17
(.20) |
86
|
3.63
|
7 |
1
(.01) |
5
(.06) |
17
(.20) |
35
(.40) |
29
(.33) |
87
|
3.99
|
8 |
3
(.03) |
2
(.02) |
18
(.21) |
31
(.36) |
32
(.27) |
87
|
4.01
|
9 |
4
(.05) |
12
(.14) |
20
(.23) |
34
(.39) |
17
(.20) |
87
|
3.55 |
10 |
7
(.08) |
12
(.14) |
15
(.17) |
34
(.39) |
19
(.22) |
87
|
3.52 |
11 |
13
(.15) |
10
(.11) |
23
(.26) |
25
(.29) |
16
(.18) |
87
|
3.24 |
12 |
8
(.09) |
11
(.13) |
25
(.29) |
30
(.35) |
11
(.13) |
85
|
3.29 |
13 |
3
(.04) |
6
(.07) |
26
(.31) |
27
(.33) |
21
(.25) |
83
|
3.69 |
14 |
5
(.06) |
8
(.09) |
23
(.27) |
34
(.40) |
16
(.19) |
86
|
3.56
|
15 |
4
(.05) |
9
(.10) |
21
(.24) |
30
(.35) |
22
(.26) |
86
|
3.66
|
16 |
8
(.09) |
16
(.19) |
26
(.30) |
22
(.26) |
14
(.16) |
86
|
3.21 |
17 |
11
(.13) |
5
(.06) |
18
(.21) |
30
(.35) |
22
(.26) |
86
|
3.55 |
18 |
2
(.02) |
4
(.05) |
12
(.14) |
38
(.44) |
30
(.35) |
86
|
4.05
|
19 |
6
(.07) |
4
(.05) |
17
(.20) |
28
(.32) |
32
(.36) |
87
|
3.87 |
20 |
6
(.07) |
2
(.02) |
10
(.12) |
33
(.38) |
35
(.41) |
86
|
4.03 |
21 |
1
(.01) |
0
(.00) |
5
(.06) |
32
(.39) |
44
(.54) |
82
|
4.44 |
Percentages of responses
in each category shown in parenthesis
The survey had two areas
for respondents to fill in with free response answers. The first was
to suggest if they were interested in any particular sensors with calculator
or microcomputer based laboratories. While these questions were only
in the middle of the pack in terms of the overall responses, teachers
indicated primarily that they would be interested in pH probes and temperature
probes. The other free response asked the teachers to indicate if there
was anything that was not mentioned on the survey that they would like
to see modeled. While these tended to be widely varied and generally
very subject specific, if one trend could be seen in the responses it
was a desire by teachers to see some forms of alternative assessment
used successfully in the classroom.
One of the most encouraging
results was from question 21 which asked if the teacher thought that
they would access this site when it was completed. The mean response
for this question was 4.52. A response of 4 indicated that the teacher
probably would access the site and a response of 5 indicated that the
teacher definitely would access the site. This gives a great deal of
justification and urgency to the completion of this project.
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