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I love today's session as there are two hands-on activities.
We started the day learning about the school learning environment test. We talked about the reliability of the test instrument using the cronbach alpha reliability test. We also related the test to Moo's scheme. I have go home to reflect on Moo's scheme and be able to know it better. Later we did a case study of a school and realise that a school lacking in a conducive LE will cause teachers' morale to dip and also we must believe in educating a child holistically.
In the afternoon, we set ourselves to do a survey on "What is happening in this course". It was an application of what we have studied in the morning. We were then introduced to the SPSS.. wow what wonders it does.. We completed the survey and entered the results in a Excel file.. given by Dr Quek. We did more google doc sharing.. this was the fun part.. sounds like a market place when certain group's doc was edited online..we could hear shouts like ' who's changing my document?', followed by sniggles. Thought we could use the SPSS, however need the survey results of one more participant. We will do the SPSS tomorrow. Another exciting day tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Session 4- Learning to use the SPSS
We did a survey in the afternoon. The what is happening in this course survey. We have to work in the original groups to do the work. Later we are to find put about Cronbach Alpha Reliability and Paired-sample t-test.
What then is cronbach alpha reliability?
It is measurement to test internal consistency of a test. Then what is internal consistency?
In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. For example, if a respondent expressed agreement with the statements, "I like to ride bicycles," "I've enjoyed riding bicycles in the past," and "I hate bicycles" (this item would be reverse scored), our test would have good internal consistency.
Internal consistency is usually measured with Cronbach's alpha, a statistic calculated from the pairwise correlations between items. A commonly-accepted rule of thumb is that an α of 0.6-0.7 indicates acceptable reliability, and 0.8 or higher indicates good reliability. Note that extremely high reliabilities (0.95 or higher) are not necessarily desirable, as this indicates that the items may be not just consistent, but redundant.( taken from Wikipedia)
This is what I found out about the t-test from Wikipedia.
A t-test is any statistical hypothesis test in which the test statistic has a Student's t distribution if the null hypothesis is true. It is applied when sample sizes are small enough that using an assumption of normality and the associated z-test leads to incorrect inference.
Read about paired sample t-test on this site
Read about Cronbach Alpha reliability
What then is cronbach alpha reliability?
It is measurement to test internal consistency of a test. Then what is internal consistency?
In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. For example, if a respondent expressed agreement with the statements, "I like to ride bicycles," "I've enjoyed riding bicycles in the past," and "I hate bicycles" (this item would be reverse scored), our test would have good internal consistency.
Internal consistency is usually measured with Cronbach's alpha, a statistic calculated from the pairwise correlations between items. A commonly-accepted rule of thumb is that an α of 0.6-0.7 indicates acceptable reliability, and 0.8 or higher indicates good reliability. Note that extremely high reliabilities (0.95 or higher) are not necessarily desirable, as this indicates that the items may be not just consistent, but redundant.( taken from Wikipedia)
This is what I found out about the t-test from Wikipedia.
A t-test is any statistical hypothesis test in which the test statistic has a Student's t distribution if the null hypothesis is true. It is applied when sample sizes are small enough that using an assumption of normality and the associated z-test leads to incorrect inference.
Read about paired sample t-test on this site
Read about Cronbach Alpha reliability
Moos' scheme
Moo's schema:
1. Personal Development: (Personal Growth & Self-enhancement)
Stimulation - Pleasure & Satisfaction,Achievement - Improvement of performance, progression & broadening of interestsEfficacy - Feeling of competence, ability and success
2. Relationships: (Extent of people involvement & support for each other)
Helpfulness - Cooperation and support among students,Participation - Participation and valuation of each individual in the group,Responsibility - Trust and responsibility of activities and learning
3.System change/maintenance: (orderliness of environment)
Creativity - Personal expression with creative and artistic activities,Influence - Expression of views and ideas on school matters and opportunity to be heard,Safety - Absence of danger, violence and harassment,Control - Presence of rules, organisation, self-discipline
1. Personal Development: (Personal Growth & Self-enhancement)
Stimulation - Pleasure & Satisfaction,Achievement - Improvement of performance, progression & broadening of interestsEfficacy - Feeling of competence, ability and success
2. Relationships: (Extent of people involvement & support for each other)
Helpfulness - Cooperation and support among students,Participation - Participation and valuation of each individual in the group,Responsibility - Trust and responsibility of activities and learning
3.System change/maintenance: (orderliness of environment)
Creativity - Personal expression with creative and artistic activities,Influence - Expression of views and ideas on school matters and opportunity to be heard,Safety - Absence of danger, violence and harassment,Control - Presence of rules, organisation, self-discipline
Session 4-Assessing the classroom learning environment 2
Today we are doing a case study.. horray some more hands-on
this case study is done in three SG schools.
recap.. Lewinian approach and Murray's needs press
Big pic .. now how LE is assessed qualitatively. then .. How learning environment is assessed using validated instruments
We will see how the researcher.. tease out the relevant information
Ask three questions..IDA learning sciences laboratory
Is there collaboration? What is knowledge forum-- for ideation process? Marsiling secondary.
Are students too bored with the printed words?- Are they going for more web-based resources?
Overview
1. Quantative studies conducted by Singapore schools
2. Qualitative studies
Action Research - John Elliot
Definition of school learning environment
Mainly three aspects-
school- vision, physica; aspects, school culture/ staff- shared vision/ students- attitude, emotional well being/ partnerships
Instrumentation: SLCEQ( School Level Environment Questionaire)
*student support-relationship (1,10,19,28)
*participatory decision making - system change
*affliation - relationship (2,11,20,29)
*innovation- system
*professional interest- (3,12,21,30)
*resource adequacy- system change
*achievement orientation-(4,13,22,31)
*work pressure - system
*staff freedom - system (5,14,23,32)
Reduce the number of items per group- 4 point likert scale
the questions in each catergory is organised in a cyclical fashion- to cut down boredom, to reduce inaccurracy in response.
this case study is done in three SG schools.
recap.. Lewinian approach and Murray's needs press
Big pic .. now how LE is assessed qualitatively. then .. How learning environment is assessed using validated instruments
We will see how the researcher.. tease out the relevant information
Ask three questions..IDA learning sciences laboratory
Is there collaboration? What is knowledge forum-- for ideation process? Marsiling secondary.
Are students too bored with the printed words?- Are they going for more web-based resources?
Overview
1. Quantative studies conducted by Singapore schools
2. Qualitative studies
Action Research - John Elliot
Definition of school learning environment
Mainly three aspects-
school- vision, physica; aspects, school culture/ staff- shared vision/ students- attitude, emotional well being/ partnerships
Instrumentation: SLCEQ( School Level Environment Questionaire)
*student support-relationship (1,10,19,28)
*participatory decision making - system change
*affliation - relationship (2,11,20,29)
*innovation- system
*professional interest- (3,12,21,30)
*resource adequacy- system change
*achievement orientation-(4,13,22,31)
*work pressure - system
*staff freedom - system (5,14,23,32)
Reduce the number of items per group- 4 point likert scale
the questions in each catergory is organised in a cyclical fashion- to cut down boredom, to reduce inaccurracy in response.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Session three reflection
I feel that there are basically to dimensions to learning environments- the factors that affect a learner's learning and the approaches to assess learning environments.
We also examine the what the past researchers had done in the field of learning environments.
The two main contributions which I feel was most impactful to the study of LE is Moo's scheme and Murray's needs- press model. Of course other experts in the field also played an important role in affecting the development of the study of LE.
How is Moo's scheme associated with Murray's needs-press model?
Moo's scheme states that there are three areas that affect one's learning- relationship, personal development and system change and maintenance.
Murray's needs- press model mentions that everyone has needs and these needs works in congruence with the presses in life-family, society etc. I would think that personal development is similar to the needs mentioned by Murray and when the needs work in tandem/ conflict with the presses( relationship as proposed by Moo), good or poor relationship may be formed respectively. If all factors work in opposition with each other, then the learning environment will not be conducive.
We also examine the what the past researchers had done in the field of learning environments.
The two main contributions which I feel was most impactful to the study of LE is Moo's scheme and Murray's needs- press model. Of course other experts in the field also played an important role in affecting the development of the study of LE.
How is Moo's scheme associated with Murray's needs-press model?
Moo's scheme states that there are three areas that affect one's learning- relationship, personal development and system change and maintenance.
Murray's needs- press model mentions that everyone has needs and these needs works in congruence with the presses in life-family, society etc. I would think that personal development is similar to the needs mentioned by Murray and when the needs work in tandem/ conflict with the presses( relationship as proposed by Moo), good or poor relationship may be formed respectively. If all factors work in opposition with each other, then the learning environment will not be conducive.
Session 3 Assessing Learning Environments(PM)
Assessment - What to assess and how to assess
Three general approaches to assessment
1.trained observers- code events and explicit verbal communication
2. use of enthnographic and naturalistic inquiry data collection methods
3. use of pupils and teachers' perceptions through questionaire
The third one is favoured- first two are expensive and extensive coding
The last approach involves the people involved in the learning environment and is unlikely to miss out certain detail.
Approaches used
1. Naturalistic inquiry
2. inventories
3. Ethnography
4. Case Studies
Instruments based on Moo's scheme
What is Moo's scheme?
Relationship
Extent of people's involvement
Personal
Direction along personal growth and self-enhancement
Three general approaches to assessment
1.trained observers- code events and explicit verbal communication
2. use of enthnographic and naturalistic inquiry data collection methods
3. use of pupils and teachers' perceptions through questionaire
The third one is favoured- first two are expensive and extensive coding
The last approach involves the people involved in the learning environment and is unlikely to miss out certain detail.
Approaches used
1. Naturalistic inquiry
2. inventories
3. Ethnography
4. Case Studies
Instruments based on Moo's scheme
What is Moo's scheme?
Relationship
Extent of people's involvement
Personal
Direction along personal growth and self-enhancement
Dr. Henry A. Murray
Dr Henry Murray was an American psychologists who taught in Harvard University.
The beginnings of his theory started with his relationships with his parents. In the book "Perspectives on Personality" p100, note that "he got on well with his father but had a poor relationship with his mother" resulting in a deep-seated feeling of depression.He then became aware of the people's needs will determine the behaviour of the people.
Later on in his life, he fell in love with Morgan, another woman outside his marriage. At that time, he was reluctant to leave his wife. From this experience he realised that conflicting needs,'the pressure that can result, and the links to motivation'.
In 1927, Murray developed different concepts like latent needs (not openly displayed), manifest needs (observed in people's actions), "press" (external influences on motivation) and "thema" - "a pattern of press and need that coalesces around particular interactions". Murray used the term "apperception" to refer to the process of projecting fantasy imagery onto an objective stimulus. The concept of apperception and the assumption that everyone's thinking is shaped by subjective processes provides the rationale behind the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
Henry Murray (1893 - 1988) was active in developing a theory of motivation throughout the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s. He believed that a need is a potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given circumstances (Murray, et al. 1938, p. 124).
A major assumption of Murray’s theory was that behaviour is driven by an internal state of disequilibrium. In other words we have a LACK of something and this drives us. We are dissatisfied and we desire something.Thus we will behave in a certain fashion. We will carry on behaving in this way until we reach equilibrium.
In 1943, while working for the OSS, he was asked by his superior to work on analysis of the personality of Adolph Hitler.
In Dr. Henry A. Murray's article of Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler:
With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions
for Dealing with Him Now and After Germany's Surrender found in
http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhatWeHave/SpecialCollections/Donovan/Hitler/index.cfm
He predicted that Hitler will end his life in the face of defeat of the Germany in WWI based on his needs theory. Murray pegged Hitler's personality as "counteractive narcism," a type that is stimulated by real or imagined insult or injury. According to Dr. Murray, the characteristics of this personality type include: holding grudges, low tolerance for criticism, excessive demands for attention, inability to express gratitude, a tendency to belittle, bully, and blame others, desire for revenge, persistence in the face of defeat, extreme self-will, self-trust, inability to take a joke, and compulsive criminality. Dr. Murray concluded that Hitler had these characteristics (and others) to an extreme degree and lacked the offsetting qualities that round out a balanced personality.
Slides on Henry Murray
Henry Murray and TAT
What is TAT?
Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which a patient views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to describe various aspects of the scene; for example, the patient may be asked to describe what led up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen afterwards. The examiner then evaluates these descriptions, attempting to discover conflicts and hidden emotions within the patient, and work toward a successful psychoanalytic cure. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_test)
Henry Murray's concept of personality
The beginnings of his theory started with his relationships with his parents. In the book "Perspectives on Personality" p100, note that "he got on well with his father but had a poor relationship with his mother" resulting in a deep-seated feeling of depression.He then became aware of the people's needs will determine the behaviour of the people.
Later on in his life, he fell in love with Morgan, another woman outside his marriage. At that time, he was reluctant to leave his wife. From this experience he realised that conflicting needs,'the pressure that can result, and the links to motivation'.
In 1927, Murray developed different concepts like latent needs (not openly displayed), manifest needs (observed in people's actions), "press" (external influences on motivation) and "thema" - "a pattern of press and need that coalesces around particular interactions". Murray used the term "apperception" to refer to the process of projecting fantasy imagery onto an objective stimulus. The concept of apperception and the assumption that everyone's thinking is shaped by subjective processes provides the rationale behind the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
Henry Murray (1893 - 1988) was active in developing a theory of motivation throughout the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s. He believed that a need is a potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given circumstances (Murray, et al. 1938, p. 124).
A major assumption of Murray’s theory was that behaviour is driven by an internal state of disequilibrium. In other words we have a LACK of something and this drives us. We are dissatisfied and we desire something.Thus we will behave in a certain fashion. We will carry on behaving in this way until we reach equilibrium.
In 1943, while working for the OSS, he was asked by his superior to work on analysis of the personality of Adolph Hitler.
In Dr. Henry A. Murray's article of Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler:
With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions
for Dealing with Him Now and After Germany's Surrender found in
http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhatWeHave/SpecialCollections/Donovan/Hitler/index.cfm
He predicted that Hitler will end his life in the face of defeat of the Germany in WWI based on his needs theory. Murray pegged Hitler's personality as "counteractive narcism," a type that is stimulated by real or imagined insult or injury. According to Dr. Murray, the characteristics of this personality type include: holding grudges, low tolerance for criticism, excessive demands for attention, inability to express gratitude, a tendency to belittle, bully, and blame others, desire for revenge, persistence in the face of defeat, extreme self-will, self-trust, inability to take a joke, and compulsive criminality. Dr. Murray concluded that Hitler had these characteristics (and others) to an extreme degree and lacked the offsetting qualities that round out a balanced personality.
Slides on Henry Murray
Henry Murray and TAT
What is TAT?
Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which a patient views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to describe various aspects of the scene; for example, the patient may be asked to describe what led up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen afterwards. The examiner then evaluates these descriptions, attempting to discover conflicts and hidden emotions within the patient, and work toward a successful psychoanalytic cure. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_test)
Henry Murray's concept of personality
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