edtech 505 final evaluation project

5/21/2018 EdTech 505 Final Evaluation Project

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An Evaluation of Usefulness of Tablets in the

AP Statistics Classroom

Submitted to

Freedom High School, Maplewood School DistrictEigna Rice - AP Statistics teacherDon Hat - Administrative AP Coordinator

Picture courtesy ofUniversity of Illinois

Submitted by

Kruzich Evaluation ServicesAngie Kruzich - KES CEO and Lead EvaluatorDecember 13, 2013
http://www.uic.edu/scs/education/degree/online-mesa/http://www.uic.edu/scs/education/degree/online-mesa/http://www.uic.edu/scs/education/degree/online-mesa/http://www.uic.edu/scs/education/degree/online-mesa/


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2 | E v a l u a t i o n : T a b l e t s i n A P S t a t i s t i c s

Table of Contents

Topic Page

Summary 3

Description of the Program 4Description and Components 4Objectives 5

Evaluation Method 5Participants 5Procedures 5Data Sources 6

Results 7Survey Results 7Observational Data 8Pre-Test and Post-Test Data 8

Discussion 8Purpose and Results 8Discussion of Data Sources 8Recommendations 10

Project Cost 10

Budget Narrative 10Invoice 11

Appendices 12Appendix A: Student Survey Questions and Responses 12Appendix B: Teacher Survey Questions and Responses 21Appendix C: Observational Data 22Appendix D: Pre and Post-Test Questions and Results 24Appendix E: Disclaimer 25


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SummaryThis evaluation will be evaluating the usefulness of tablets in the statistics classroom:

Do tablets help maximize student involvement in a statistics classroom? Three tablets

have been purchased for use in an AP Statistics classroom at Freedom High School.Both the instructor and the AP coordinator have asked; should more tablets be

purchased in the future? Will such a purchase make a significant impact to justify

purchasing more tablets?

To answer these questions, the evaluator met with the instructor and the AP coordinator

to discuss how to answer these questions. During this meeting it was determined that

an effective way to gather this information was to collect data using surveys, through

instructor observation, and by pre-testing and post-testing. Then there was a second

meeting involving the evaluator and the instructor to discuss how to collect the data and

when. The data collection phase took place throughout October and November 2013.

After the data collection period had concluded, the results of the data were analyzed.

Some findings were expected and others were not. Surprising comments from the

student survey when answering the question: Are there any advantages for students if

there were more tablets available in the classroom?, include:

"We can engage the entire class in an activity for optimum efficiency."

"People are more excited to do work because they're using a new, interesting

technology."

"More tablets would allow more interactive learning if a program was shared

between the tablets."This is very insightful by these particular students. On the other hand, there were three

students who also commented on the fact that tablets may not be worth the price.

From the observational data, the surveys and the testing, most results led to the same

conclusion; when students were using technology in the AP Statistics classroom, they

were highly engaged. Students were working on solving problems, working together in

groups discussing the topics and frequently assisting one other with the technology.

This evaluation determined that in order to obtain a significant impact on student test

scores, students must learn the material and be able to apply the material. To achieve a

higher student learning ratio within the classroom, students must be engaged and

participating. Based on the data collection for this evaluation, technology has a

significant impact in effectively engaging students in a classroom. This evaluation

strongly recommends purchasing more tablets and keyboards for the AP Statistics

classroom.


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Description of the ProgramDescription and Components

The College Board identified approximately 500 high schools throughout the nation as

qualifiers for a grant based on PSAT scores. Student PSAT scores were compared witheach school's AP scores in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

courses. These 500 schools had one major attribute in common; student PSAT scores

showed that certain groups of students were qualified to successfully continue onto AP

STEM courses but were not following through with this option.

Freedom High School is part of Maplewood School District, in Washington State.

Freedom High School was chosen as a grant recipient because the College Board

identified that females were qualified to take AP Statistics based on PSAT scores, but

were not doing so. If Freedom High School increased female diversity in this course,

then they could accept the grant. Because Maplewood School District's AP fundadministrator agreed to purchase new statistic texts, then the Google Grant money

could be used to purchase three tablets, additional technology, for use in the new

statistics class. This class will be taught by Eigna Rice.

Additionally, Freedom High School is experiencing a major remodel during the first two

years of the AP Statistics course initiation. Freedom HS already had very limited

computer lab space and even more so now that all rooms have been condensed into

portables. The three computer labs that were previously available were fully booked on

a regular basis. Nonetheless, there are now only two labs. With the addition of AP

Statistics into Freedom's master schedule, this creates another course that potentiallyneeds regular access to already overcrowded labs. Using the Google Grant to purchase

tablets for AP Statistics was logical.

This evaluation is designed to support the decision to determine if more tablets are to

be purchased for the AP Statistics courses. The evaluation took place over a four month

period of time. Eigna Rice asked for the evaluation input before she begins to write

grants for more tablets. Furthermore, if the evaluation did recommend purchasing

additional tablets, then Eigna would like to include the data collected and the evaluation

recommendation as part of future grants. Don Hat, the school administrator and AP

coordinator for Freedom High will also receive the evaluation results. He will assist with

the decision of whether or not to purchase more tablets for AP Statistics. Don would

also like to see the evaluation results to see if it makes sense to purchase tablets for

other classrooms in the school.


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Objectives

The overall purpose of this evaluation is to determine if tablets help maximize student

involvement in a statistics classroom. The following questions were proposed by the

stakeholders:

1. Was additional access to technology a positive addition to the statistics program?

2. Does the presence of tablets create an environment where students are highly

engaged in the classroom?

3. Was the investment to buy tablets a high-quality use of Google's money?

4. Does immediate access to technology in the classroom help students in AP

Statistics?

5. Do students know how to use technology to quickly prepare and analyze

statistical data?

The evaluation investigated student involvement by using three main objectives:

1. Students will be able to demonstrate a high engagement level in the statisticsclassroom while accessing technology.

2. Students will be able to operate technology to organize and analyze statistical

data.

3. Students will be able to illustrate their improved AP preparedness by

demonstrating higher scores on an AP Statistics post-exam as compared to an

AP Statistics pre-exam.

Evaluation MethodParticipantsThe participants were students currently enrolled in Freedom High School's AP

Statistics courses. The AP Statistics classes were already a sample of the overall AP

Statistics student population throughout the world, therefore the classes being

evaluated are a purposive sample. The tablets program evaluated had only 54 students,

therefore this is already a sample and all students enrolled should be used in the

evaluation since it is under the 100 count minimum for sample size. The instructor of the

course, Einga Rice, the AP Statistics instructor, is also a participant who was

interviewed towards the end of the evaluation process.

Procedures

The decision-making model was used for this particular evaluation process because the

stakeholders would like to use this evaluation to help determine if purchasing more

tablets is worth the money, time and effort. Additionally, the decision making model


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allows for the multiple ways that data needed to be collected; surveys, observational

data and pre- and post-testing.

The evaluation process began after the program was already in its initial phases; the

grant had been received, the tablets had been purchased and the AP Statistics course

had began its first few weeks of classes. It was during these first weeks of school whenthe evaluator met with the two main stakeholders, Einga Rice and Don Hat. During this

initial meeting the purpose of the evaluation was discussed and objectives of the

evaluation were established.

A second meeting occurred between the evaluator and the teacher to discuss and train

the teacher on how to collect all data. It was determined that a pre-test should occur

immediately. An AP Statistics exam was chosen for the pre-exam and post-exam such

that the instructor could have students complete the test the first week of October. This

meeting also included a discussion on what should be included in the student survey.

After this meeting, the evaluator wrote two surveys; one for the students and one for theteacher. The evaluator finalized the survey questions with the teacher by sharing

information via email then by having a phone conversation.

After the second meeting and towards the end of the evaluation observational data was

collected. During the week of November 25, students were given the post-exam to

complete in class. The following week, students were given the survey during class.

That same week, the instructor completed the open-end survey questions.

Data Sources

There were three main data sources used for the purpose of this evaluation:1. Surveys

2. Observational Data

3. Pre-Exam and Post-Exam Testing

For the student survey, it was decided that in order to maximize student participation,

the instructor would take both classes to the computer lab to complete the survey. By

having everyone in the class complete the survey during class, non-response bias could

be avoided. 52 out of the 54 students were present that day and completed the student

survey. The instructor survey was a more-open ended response survey to prompt and

encourage as much input as possible.

After several activities were prepared by the instructor, then the observational data

collection process began. Over a period of two months, on five various days, the

instructor documented students who were on-task and off-task while using a tablet in

the classroom. A simply class list was printed to document the instructor's observations.

Each column was dated, then + was used to indicate that student was on task that day


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while using the tablet. If it was noticed a student was off task then - was marked down.

Off-task was defined to be any student using the tablet for something unrelated to the

current activity. Off-task could also be a student not focusing on the assigned activity

nor using the tablet.

The pre-exam was given during the first week of October, then the post-exam was given

during the last week of November. The exam given at both times was the multiple

choice portion of the 1997 AP Statistics exam. It was decided to give the same exam at

both times to avoid many lurking variables that could have influenced the data results.

ResultsSurvey Results

The student survey results can be categorized into three areas. The first set ofquestions asked about student contact with the tablets. Approximately 73% of students

were able to personally use a tablet over the two month observational period. About

83% of the students were able to share a tablet at some point. Then about 90% of the

students had access to a tablet in their group for an activity.

The next category in the survey, asked students about their perception of their personal

participation rate. The following table summarizes student perceived participation rates.

% On-Task Rate < 50 50-80 80-94 95-100 No Tablet UseQ4 Indiv has tablet 3.9% 11.5% 30.8% 32.7% 26.9%Q5 Partners share 3.9% 9.6% 38.5% 28.9% 19.2%Q6 Group has 1 tablet 5.8% 13.5% 48.1% 23.1% 9.6%

The next four questions asked for student opinion. Question 7 asked how many tablets

would it take them to individually be on-task 95%-100% of the time in class? 44.2% of

the students stated they need at least one tablet per group. 38.5% said there should be

one tablet for every two students and 17.3% said everyone should have their own

tablet. Question 8 was an open-ended question asking students what else would they

like to include in their survey response. The results are numerous and can be found in

appendix A.Questions 9 and 10 asked students about theadvantagesanddisadvantagesof having the tablets in the classroom. All of these results are also

located in appendix A.

The teacher survey asked the following open ended questions: When using three

tablets in the classroom, how did you engage all students in the classroom when all

students did not have a tablet? Thinking back to your observational data you collected,


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did you feel that students where on-task while using the tablets? What would be the

best way to proceed with tablet use in the AP Statistics classroom? The responses to

these questions can be viewed inappendix B.

Observational Results

Out of the 68 observational results conducted by the instructor while a student had atablet, 60 of those times, the student who had possession of the tablet, was on-task.

This equates to 88% of the time, a student using a tablet was using the tablet as

instructed.

Pre-Test and Post-Test Assessment Results

As mentioned before, the 1997 AP Statistics exam was the exam chosen to be used as

the pre-exam and post-exam. At the beginning of the evaluation process, students

scored on average 11.6 questions out of 35 possible on the pre-exam. For the post-

exam, students scored correctly on 20.5 questions.

DiscussionPurpose and Results

The overall purpose of this evaluation was twofold:

1. Determine if tablets help maximize student involvement in a statistics classroom.

2. Should the school invest time, effort and money to purchase more tablets?

Discussion of Data SourcesStudent Survey Results

There are significant patterns in the results of question number one through six.

One pattern seen is that as the number of students using a tablet shifts from

individual use to group use the percentage of students that has had access to a

tablet increased. Another clear pattern demonstrates that as tablet use shifts

from individual use to group use, the percentage of students that felt on-task

decreased.

Some interesting results occurred in question 7 when students were asked about

the ideal number of tablets to have in the classroom. The evaluator finds it

surprising that each student wouldn't want their own tablet every time. This

shows that students truly listed what they thought would be needed in a

classroom to make the tablets more useful rather than bias their own responses

by stating what they want. The majority of students feel as though they can share

a tablet and still complete the work necessary.


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Questions 8, 9 and 10 were all open-response and well received by the students

as can be seen by their written responses. Again, students did not jump to the

conclusion that each person needs their own tablet. There were far more

advantages listed than disadvantages. Overall, students would like to have more

tablets to improve the tablet to student ratio as they are able to do more

individually. They recognize the fact that students that don't have their own tablet

can be off-task and even comment that students are more engaged when they

have their own tablet. Several students mentioned the computer lab would be

just as good as more tablets. From the evaluator's perspective, I believe the

students are unaware of the lack of computer lab space at the school. In terms of

the disadvantages, students are aware that you can easily be distracted by the

apps available and the internet access.

Teacher Survey Results

The teacher survey listed one serious difficulty in only having access to three

tablets mentioned by the instructor. The difficulty was in writing an activity that

kept all students engaged for a long enough period of time such that three

groups had a tablet while the other four groups did not. The teacher opinion was

resounding in that it is a ton of unnecessary additional work to write activities that

required students to "pass the tablet". Activities became unnecessarily long to

accommodate for not having more tablets. More time was taken in class to give

all students an opportunity to use the tablet for a single activity.

Observational Results

The observational results were compelling. Although there is an inconsistency ofnumber of users each day due to the variation of the activity presented to

students and having three tablets in the classroom. For example, on Oct 29th,

the tablet activity involved rotating the tablets to all groups, therefore all groups

had the opportunity to utilize the tablets during the activity. Whereas not all

groups had to have a tablet for the activity on the other observed days. However,

an 88% participation rate observed by a teacher is a high percentage rate. In this

day and age with so many distractions available to students, to keep them

engaged is extremely difficult as observed by this evaluator during other

educational observations.

Pre-Exam and Post-Exam Results

The pre-exam and post-exam results were high-quality improvement scores. As

a whole, students obtained an average increase of almost 9 questions out of 35

or 25.4% increase. This is a high percentage increase for such a short period of

time and so early in the school year. There is one outlier, where a student only

scored 4 on the pre-exam then only earned 8 on the post-exam. There are other


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interesting results in which a student went from 15 points to 16 and another that

went from 9 to 31 points. Overall however, there was a significant increase in

understanding the material while using technology in the stats classroom.

Recommendations

Given such positive data analysis results: the on-task rates and student knowledge

improvement within this evaluation, the evaluator supports the original decision to invest

in the first three tablets.

Based on student input, if the school has limited grant money, then the short term goal

should be to acquire one tablet for every two students. Many students were concerned

about access and on-task behavior when there is only one tablet available in a group

and three people are watching one person work. Having one tablet for every two

students would alleviate this problem and be the next ideal step for AP Statistics.

However, based on the instructor feedback, the evaluator would recommend that theAP Statistics program have a long term goal to acquire one tablet for every student in a

class. This does not mean purchase 54 tablets, only one for every student. It should be

satisfactory to have one tablet per student for one class at a time. Currently, the largest

single AP Stats class has 28 students, so purchase or write a grant for 29 tablets. The

teacher should have a tablet for demonstrations as well.

A one-to-one ratio can address multiple concerns from the surveys. Additionally,

students would have a better statistics and technology experience in the classroom

because of the access to the tablets. Students would not have to wait for a computer lab

to become available in order to get their work completed.

To address the student issue regarding ease of use and the frequent comparison to the

computer lab, the evaluator would also recommend purchasing a keyboard to

accompany each tablet. Compared to the cost of the tablets, a keyboard is relatively

inexpensive and creates more of a desktop or laptop feel to the tablet. This purchase

would have a large impact on the effectiveness of the tablets in that they would be more

easily used in the existing stats classroom but also useful in other classes as well.

This evaluation strongly recommends purchasing more tablets and keyboards until a

one-to-one tablet-to-student ratio can be obtained. This will help to maximize student

involvement in the statistics classroom.


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Project CostBudget Narrative

The costs of the evaluator's time on this project can be summarized as follows:

The daily cost of the evaluator's time is $500/day. The hourly rate was rounded up to $65/hour.

The time to collect and analyze all data took a total of 3 days.

The time to prepare the final evaluation report was 4 days.

The final and fourth meeting to present the evaluation results to both the AP

Stats teacher and the school administrator (5 hours).

The AP Statistics teacher was paid for meeting and training times at per diem rate of

$50/hour. Likewise, AP coordinator was paid for the initial and final meetings at $75/hr.

The three tablets were generously donated by Google as part of the grant developed inpartnership with the College Board, Google and DonorsChoose.org. Once the tablets

arrived, wireless needed to be installed in the classroom, the tablets needed to be set

up such that they work with the school's network and server, then finally Microsoft Office

needed to be installed. The school district covered this work done with the school

district's technology levy budget.

Invoice

The invoice below outlines all associated costs related to the creation of the evaluation .

Evaluator Fees $4572.50Initial Meeting (4 hours) $260.00Teaching Training and Meeting Time (4 hours) $260.00Create Surveys (2 hours) $130.00

Phone Meeting with Teacher (1.5 hours) $97.50Data Analysis (3 days) $1500.00Prepared Final Evaluation Report (4 days) $2000.00

Presented Final Evaluation Report (5 hours) $325.00Participant Fees $800.00

AP Statistics Teacher Meeting/Training Time 8.5 hrs ($50/hr) $425.00School Administrator Meeting Time 5 hrs ($75/hr) $375.00

Costs Covered by the annual School Budget $0.00Survey Monkey Annual Membership $204 $0.00

Copy Expenses of Pre and Post test $0.00Tablet Start Up Costs $0.00

3 Tablets funded by Google Grant $3200 $0.00

Tablet Set Up Costs Covered by School District Budget $0.00Total Cost of Evaluation $5372.50


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Appendices

Appendix A:

Student Survey Questions and all Responses


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Question 8 Results

Q8: What else do you want to tell me about tablet use in the classroom for AP

Statistics?

for tablets to be fully effective, more of them are necessary

From personal experience, the tablets seem to make analyzing data a little more

difficult. Adjusting to the new technology will take time, so if we use them, we would

probably need to use them very regularly to be able to use them proficiently.

If we conduct our own surveys or experiments, we'll have more data which can be

analyzed on the tablets (giving more opportunities to use them)

I really enjoy using the tablets and they make work easy

They are really nice to have and it would be awesome to have more than three

Nothing

The apps on the tablets are typically distracting.

From personal experience, the tablets seem to make analyzing data a little more

difficult. Adjusting to the new technology will take time, so if we use them, we wouldprobably need to use them very regularly to be able to use them proficiently.

It is useful when you are stuck on a problem or need to look up the answer because the

answer button is right next to the question. So you don't need to look through the entire

book for the answers.


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They are very useful for doing things like using Excel when so we don't have to go to

the lab for computers and we really only need one per group for the group tasks when

something like Excel is required.

they are pretty cool.

I highly enjoy the tabletsThey are helpful for getting to the book in class

Nothing, thanks.

The tablets are nice and fancy. They make me work hard.

Sharing tablets is a little annoying sometimes

The tablet use in the classroom is minimal

It depends on the person if the people are on topic or not.

Hi

It's nice! Maybe more????

They are funWhat else do you want to know about tablet use in the classroom for AP statistics?

NA

Nothing

Tablets are a waste of our tax money and do no assist in learning.

So so so not worth it. They're cute little techie toys but there is a lot that could be bought

for that money that would be more useful. A few students whose families happen to be

wealthy know how to use these already; the rest of us spend more time trying to figure

out how to use them than actually doing work.

The tablets are useful but it would be better if we had more so that all the groups canuse it at the same time.

Nothing

I have a Surface at home and in general I find it really hard to share with others - not out

of selfishness but the need to use it singularly. That's why I think everyone will benefit

from the utility of the tablets if they all have equal access to it at all times. I definitely

think each group having their own tablet is the least effective solution.

As convenient as the tablets are, I don't really NEED them. They're just fancy ways to

have books or run programs. The same situation can be solved with a hardback and

going to the library or computer lab.

Need to figure out data transfer so we dont need to email to get the file printed.

They're a cool learning tool

NA

return to evaluation results


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Advantages

Q9:Are there any advantages for students if there were more tablets available in the

classroom?

yes, we can engage the entire class in an activity for optimum efficiency

I can't think of any. Personally, computer labs seem effective.People are more excited to do work because they're using a new, interesting technology

easier to access microsoft office and the internet for books

They have the microsoft office set and they allow you to use a computer at your desk

that isnt as crappy as the laptops we have

Yes because you can access the internet if you need help.

Having one per group would be nice because sharing one book per 4 people is

inconvenient. Homework can be more easily done in class that way.

Easy access to answers

Yes, because they are very convenient and easy to use, especially if the work is just

lighter work reading, so we don't need to get anything like a class set of laptops.

It would be better if every group got one.

yes, More tablets would allow more interacive learning if a program was shared

between the tablets.

Yes there probably are some advantages. This would make it easier for each student in

a group to stay engaged instead of everyone having to crowd around one tablet in a

group.

Yes, it helps the students get a more hands on experience.

Yes, it would be easier to take notes because you would have access to them each

class and also wouldn't need to bring a book each day

Yes they allow easy access to lots of information

More students would be able to have a book when doing book work in class.

Students would be able to access the internet and various programs from their groups,

which would accelerate learning. With more tablets, it would be more hands-on for more

people, and we would have more of a chance to practice tasks ourselves rather than

watching and helping a partner.

Yes there are. Tablets provide a nice, visual interface that some people may be missing

out on if they don't have one available.

Much better for doing individual work on tech related tasks.Other ways to work with your group

There are not many advantages for sudents not using tablets

easier to use than laptops, take up less space

No

More people would be able to see a book


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It would allow for a better experience and we wouldn't be required to walk to a computer

lab. Also, more information is more easily accessible.

Yes. more people get a hands on experience...

Access to more and better resources

YesNo

Not really. They're a fairly obscure piece of technology, so they won't be useful in the

"real world" like computer knowledge is. Few of us will own one, so said knowledge isn't

personally useful either. They're more of a distraction than anything,

not really

When there is only one tablet to use for a group, the other people in the group might not

work because they don't have the tablet.

Easier access to technology on the tablet

Absolutely, often when sharing a tablet with a larger group of people, the individuals that

are not on the tablet are more likely to be off task while one person is doing the required

work.

Yes, because each person can interactively use each tablet to participate. This will aid

the learning process.

I guess we don't have to walk the 40 feet to the portable filled with computers for the

same use provided by tablets.

Sometimes but it really depends on the assignment and efficiency. Most times 1 should

work fine and then sometimes multiple might be fsater.

Yes

We would be able to analyse data in class.

Tabelts are bigger and easier to use than the calculators. Also we can access the

online book and save books by using the tablet.

Students could each be on the internet or work on something on the computer at the

same time without leaving the classroom.

Electronic documents save paper. If there's internet then we can do research as well.

They are more interactive and cool

EAsier and quicker to graph and record data

students would be more engaged because we would be able to follow along better

Yes. Tablets allow students to not only access the book, but use the internet to solve

problems, use excel to anaylze data, etc. The more students that have them, the more

engaged the class will be.

People can all participate and actually use the tablets instead of watching one person

do it.



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Disadvantages

Q10:Are there any DISadvantages for students if there were more tablets available in

the classroom?

No

I think people are less engaged and many, no matter how hard they try, will becomeconfused and start to fall behind.

Since people are probably less familiar with tablets than computers, it could waste time

trying to solve issues and make people more frustrated

Nope

No

None

More tablets means more access to distraction and whatnot.

Internet access, could possibly get off task

Yes, some people don't use them to stay on task (Mitch) *cough* *cough*

could be off task more.

sutudents may choose to use the camera or play gmaes rather than do actual work.

Yes. It would probably be easier for students to get off task if they each had their own

tablet.

I can not think of any

No

No

Not at all students would be able to stay on task and might get distracted by the tablets.

There may be more temptation to use the tablet for non-school related tasks for somestudents if tablets were individual.

Tablets may cause some distractions, at least when they are first introuced.

Chance that someone might be off task

No

No

harder ot flip between pages, people playing games ect on tablets

Yes, some people will just goof off with them which is distracting.

Kids can be distracted

They might get distracted from the free Internet.No

If there are any, the poor students wouldn't use the tablet to their advantage.

Potential of people being more off task playing with the tablets

No

Nothing besides wasted tax money

Yeah, they're not useful to know how to use and they're distracting. They also


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encourage one group member to do the work while the others zone out, because it's

really hard to share a tablet.

Nope

Some students might try to surf the web or do other things that aren't on task.

Tablets are just expensive, and I don't see what advantage a tablet has over acomputer.

Yes, disadvantages of more tablets in the classroom include distractions on the tablets.

Yes

Not really...

There are more opportunities to just flip around and not pay attention.

Nope

No

No

they are kinda distracting at timesStudents might be unfocused and be off task if no one is waiting to use a tablet.

Distraction.

No they are AMAZING

Distraction

if students get easily distracted, the tablets can become a problem

Students may use them for other things and get distracted. In a way, they're sort of like

big phones (minus the texting).

People might use tablets to play games and other stuff instead of working on the tasks.

No



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Appendix B:

Teacher Survey Questions and all Responses

Question 1:When using three tablets in the classroom, how did you engage all

students in the classroom when all students did not have a tablet?

Teacher Response:This was truly a problem. I found it extremely difficult to

write an activity that kept all students engaged at all times but only three students

in the room had a tablet at any one time. Basically it came down to writing one

task within an activity that used the tablet and at least three additional tasks that

students were working while they waited for others to use the tablets. It would be

much, much easier to write an activity even if only each group had one tablet.

Question 2:Thinking back to your observational data you collected, did you feel that

students where on-task while using the tablets?

Teacher Response:When students were given the opportunity to use thetablets, I felt as though they were not only using them, they were glued to them!

Students made many comments about how cool the tablets were. Sometimes it

took a student a little while to get used to a tablet, but once they had used a

tablet once or twice, they were asking to borrow them to access the textbook on-

line or look up stats on a website. They became comfortable really fast. I did

notice, some students still haven't really had a chance to use one yet, so this is

creating a digital divide within my own classroom.

Question 3: What would be the best way to proceed with tablet use in the AP Statistics

classroom?

Teacher Response:With only three tablets, it isn't realistic to continue writing

tablet activities for a whole class when only three students can access the tablets

at a time. It is way too much work to write such an activity again. It took me days

to write it, then we ended up spending too much class time to get through all the

parts of the activity in order to give each group access to the tablet one group at

a time. At the very least each group needs a tablet. Ideally, each student would

have their own tablet to use, then everyone is fully engaged and working together

more closely as students could discuss each part of the process on the tablet. Is

it worth purchasing more tablets so each kid could have one...definitely yes!! Ican see uses for the tablets in my other classes as well. This particular tablet can

eliminate the need for computer labs. If all teachers had a set of these, the space

saved for computer labs could be used for classrooms. Even with the remodel,

Freedom High will still be short four classrooms.


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Appendix C:

Observational Data

The following table lists the number of times students were observed to be on-task while

using the tablets. An addition sign indicates on-task where as a negative sign indicates

the student was off-task when observed by the teacher. Student names have beenremoved. Dates when the observations occurred are shown.

Assigned Student Number 10/9/13 10/29/13 11/12/13 11/25/13 12/3/13

1 +

2 - +/+3 +4 + + +5 + +6 + +78 +9 + + +/-10 + +1112 + +13 + +/-14 +

1516 + +

17 -18 +1920 +

2122 +23 + + +24 + +/- +25 +26

27 +/+2829 - - +

30 +31 +32 +

3334 + +/+


23/25


35 + +

36 +373839 + +

40 +41 + +

4243 + -44 + +

4546 +47 +48 +49

5051 +52 +53 +54

Positive/Total Observation 23/26 7/8 12/16 10/10 8/8


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Appendix D:

Pre-Test and Post-Test Questions and all Results

The test used for both the pre-test and the post-test was the 1997 Multiple Choice AP

Statistics exam questions #1-35. The examquestions can be found on-lineas published

by the college board. The actual questions begin on page 19 within the adobedocument and end on page 37.

Below are the pre-test and post-test scores for each of the 54 AP Statistics students.

Student ID # Pre-Test Post-Test Number Increase

1 8 22 14

2 17 22 5

3 20 25 5

4 11 15 4

5 9 31 226 7 16 9

7 13 24 11

8 14 18 4

9 10 19 9

10 NA 25 NA

11 6 20 14

12 17 25 8

13 11 22 11

14 12 28 1615 15 16 1

16 12 14 2

17 15 22 7

18 8 12 4

19 NA 19 NA

20 11 14 3

21 16 27 11

22 15 23 8

23 12 23 1124 NA 22 NA

25 22 27 5

26 17 26 9

27 9 19 10

28 8 18 10
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/255123_1997_Statistics_RE.pdf#page=19&zoom=auto,0,1224http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/255123_1997_Statistics_RE.pdf#page=19&zoom=auto,0,1224http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/255123_1997_Statistics_RE.pdf#page=19&zoom=auto,0,1224http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/255123_1997_Statistics_RE.pdf#page=19&zoom=auto,0,1224


25/25


29 12 21 9

30 11 22 11

31 4 19 15

32 11 19 8

33 12 14 234 20 23 3

35 14 18 4

36 20 27 7

37 5 25 20

38 13 20 7

39 12 19 7

40 12 22 10

41 11 24 13

42 17 21 443 9 17 8

44 3 9 6

45 12 17 5

46 13 22 9

47 9 18 9

48 4 8 4

49 9 11 2

50 4 19 15

51 2 22 2052 15 23 8

53 16 27 11

54 7 24 17

Average 11.6 20.5 8.9

Here are some more details of the pre-test and post test. There were 35 multiple choice

questions total. On average students increased the number of correct responses by 8.8

questions from the beginning of October to the end of November.

Appendix E:

Disclaimer

Freedom High School, Maplewood School District, Eigna Rice and Jana Hat are

fictional names such that the real school and its employees remain anonymous.

edtech 505 final evaluation project

Documents

e t s i n

observational data

t i o n

data andwhen

usefulness of tablets

appendix e

survey results

discussion of data sources