After really enjoying the last two classes in the program (Digital Storytelling, Web 2.0 Tools) I will be honest and say I'm a little more suspicious/apprehensive about a stats class. It has been a while since I've had any type of mathematics class (first year of college to be specific) so remembering some of the vocab might be tough. Despite the fact that I initially do not have the excitement my attitude always is to be open-minded and to always find things that I can use or that will help me improve.
I look forward to finding ways that I can gather data to improve my teaching and potentially my collaboration with other teachers. I have been seeing a need to have hard data about how effective using technology has been in my classes. Several teachers in my department and school are suspicious as to whether or not technology actually improves student learning and it would validate what I do if I have some hard evidence. On a personal level it may also help me determine what is having a measurable impact and what is not for my students. I will need to learn what type of questions to ask, how to gather the data, and most importantly how to interpret and apply the data.
My most extensive experience with statistics has to do with sports stats. When I was a kid I learned a lot of math from studying and playing around with football statistics and basketball statistics. I've been able to use that going forward so hopefully I get some stuff from this class that does the same...
Ha, I learned statistics in middle school by playing around with football as well. I'm a huge football fan!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite tech sites, just had a long article on laptops in education and the part of it was the need to prove its worth. http://tinyurl.com/7orv2op
ReplyDeleteThe thing that irks me about most teachers that start screaming about wanting data analysis of how computer technology has a direct correlation to test scores are the same people that in the next breath rant about having to teach to the test. I think it has more to do with not liking change or having others tell them how to run their classrooms.