Reflection on Statistical Analysis

This was a very difficult assignment. Without much prior knowledge of the Analysis Toolpak or the tests we were performing, this was a challenge. A challenge that I'm not quite sure I've mastered yet. The discussion posts gave me hope to keep going as I could tell that there were many others as frustrated as I was. I am confident about the procedures for doing the tests. I'm just not sure about the validity of the numbers I was using. I'm now interested in knowing what the meaning of all of the results that were given are. That will be a good "Google" project.

Now my concern turns toward the second half of the semester. I'm a little concerned about it since there doesn't seem to be any information on the Course Activities page. I'm hoping we get a chance to review what we've done so far and get more practice. I'm already using several tools from the course in school. I've also been sharing with other teachers- they think I'm a Technology Wiz. If they only knew.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical Analysis

Here are my results. I have a feeling that they are no where close to being right. I think that I messed up the Excel sheet with all of the information on it. I was playing around with it after I downloaded it, trying to learn the Sort and Filter tabs. I have read all of the discussion posts up to this point, and I have watched the video tutorials repeatedly. After doing so I believe that I am doing the procedures correctly, but I can't get numbers to match up with what was given to us.

My results are a screen shot of an Excel page. I have saved the results of the tests in Excel. So if those are needed as well I can submit them as an attachment.

I see how these tests would be beneficial. Especially comparing progress between this year's class/students and last year's. The check could be to see how the classes compare, or to see what kind of job you're doing as a teacher. Numerous other possiblities exist, I know.

NETS-T
2d, 3a, 3b, 3d, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d

Data Preparation

Hypothesis: Females have a higher average number of discussion posts than do the males.
Dependent variable- Sex. Independent variable- # of posts.
Results: Females average # of posts was 15.63, males was 16.57. The hypothesis was incorrect.

Null Hypothesis: Teaching or Not Teaching does not affect the average number of discussion posts.
Dependent variable- Teaching/Not Teaching. Independent variable- # of posts.
Results: Those Teaching average 18.7 posts. Those Not Teaching average 9.55 posts. The Null Hypothesis was incorrect.

I have found that YouTube is an incredible resource for tutorials. There are many well-done selection out there that would be great to teach the novice, all the way to advanced users. Glad to see that YouTube isn't just a place to post videos of someone's dumbest moment and stupid choices.

NETS-T
1a, b, c, d
2a, b, c, d
3a, b, c, d
4a, b, c, d
5a, b, c, d

This exercise can be adapted to multiple subject matter in the classroom. Research projects would've been much more interesting in school if we(the students) could've come up with our own numbers rather than finding them in an encyclopedia.

Excel Basics

I have replaced all words with numbers- that's what I understood to do by the instructions. The average blog posts it 16. I have posted 41 times, so I am above average. I can sort, but I'm afraid to do too much before I know what the next step is with page.

NETS-T: most are covered with this simple exercise. The use of Excel in this type of activity is a great way to model 21st Century Learning to teachers. "This is how easy it can be".

1a, b, c, d
2a, b, c, d
3a, b, c, d
4a, c
5a, b, c

Research

I didn't have a "Tools" to click on in Excel. So I found a YouTube video that walked me through the process. I posted the link on the discussion board. There were several other "Add-Ins" that I didn't know were there. Excel already has many features, I can't believe there are more.

NETS-T
2a, 2c, 3a, 3d, 4a, 5b

Personality Profile #2

The results were the same: ISTJ. Introverted and a thinker. I felt that many of those questions were very circumstancial. Other factors such as setting and time/place could affect the answer. But overall, I agree with the results. I believe it's very important to understand your personality type as well as the overwhelming personality in your audience. You must know your shortcomings, your strengths and find ways to compensate for the weaknesses and not focus on your strengths to the point where it becomes numbing to your audience.

I've known for many years that I'm an introvert. I have had to overcome this in many areas of life. Just like other issues in life, just because you don't like to do doesn't mean you get a pass. (Unless you involve the governmnet or lawyers, but that another post for another day.) The most important thing is to try to see things from the point-of-view of others. If you know their answer before you ask the question, life will be easier.

NETS-T
1a, 1c, 3b

Pew

My age is 24. Sounds good to me. I thing the piercing thing cost me some points. Oh well. No Facebook will pull you down too, I'm sure.

NETS-T
1c?

Personality Profile #1

I turned out to to an ISTJ. Meyers Briggs said I am an Inspector- very dependable, like the rules and for people to follow them. I thought the first two paragraphs, that continued to comment on these two aspects, was spot on. It was comical to read Briggs' statements and compare them to me- very true.

The results lost me, however, in the final paragraph when my personality type was said to be very sociable and involved in social events and groups. That is totally not me. Maybe I misinterpreted the description of that area when I chose my letter.

NETS-T
1a, 1c, 3b

Audacity on Podbean

Here is my Audacity project on Podbean:

Well, now the link button isn't working right. Oh well, not gonna stop now.
Here is the site- http://cfarnsworth1.podbean.com/

Audacity is very cool. This experience wasn't. I tried for about 4 hours total, yesterday and today, to get the project onto podbean. I guess if I knew more about the basics of computers I wouldn't have had all that difficulty. When I listen to the project on podbean there is a static-type of noise on it that I didn't hear in Audacity.

NETS-T
1 a, b, c
2 a, b, c, d
3 a, b, c
4 a, c
5 a, b, c, d

Audacity- Part 1

Downloading Audacity was pretty easy. I'm still not sure if LAME downloaded as well...? I'll find out tonight when I try to send my Audacity project to it's destination. Audacity is a really great tool. It's even better when you think about it being free. There are so many things you can do with audio on Audacity. In fact, there are so many options on Audacity, I think it could take a couple weeks of exploring it everyday to fully understand what it can do- at least a couple of weeks. When I was moving my music to Audacity the m4p never did change as stated in the Audacity tutorial. For some reason I had to select the song, try to upoad it, get rejected, exit, go back through the same process and it worked fine the second time around. That's the only glitch so far. Editing the music and vocal is actually a lot of fun. It's like being a kid again with a new video game. You're getting good at the game, but you go back and try to do a little more. I find myself zooming in to get that millisecond of dead-air out of the track. I'm hoping for luck tonight when I try to send the completed projected to the prescribed location.

NETS-T addressed: All are involved, or could be by using Audacity in the classroom in specific ways, but here are the direct items:
1 a, b, c
2 a, b, c, d
3 a, b, c
4 a, c
5 a, b, c, d