Topic: StatisticsMr. Thompson, a middle school teacher, wanted to find out if there was a difference in student engagement between three sections of his biology class based on the type of instruction he used.
Mr. Thompson is an assiduous middle school biology teacher who wants to test whether different instructional methods affect student engagement in his three-sectioned class. He applied three kinds of teaching methods one by one: the traditional lecture method, participative group work, and computer-based instruction. He would see the level of student engagement in each section for a certain period.
He will have to do this based on various metrics: participation rate, attentiveness, completion of assignments, and enthusiasm manifested during class discussions. He would then be able to gather data from each section and apply statistical methods to the differences. One of these is by Analysis of Variance to see whether there are significant differences in the three instructional methods on levels of student engagement.
It would tell which pedagogy engages students the best. If the difference is big, Mr. Thompson will see how to instruct best and probably adopt it for all sections to enhance the general engagement of the students. Not only does it improve his way of teaching, but also contributes to a better learning experience for his students through active participation in a more engaging atmosphere in class.
