Gender & Concentration in the AMCS Major

1. Gender & Concentration in the AMCS Major Instrument Construction and Reliability Analysis

2. Group Members • Matt Kriesel - Research Introduction • Charlie Sandor - The Research Plan • Lucas Ganser - Selection of Topic • David Ricksford - Hypothesis • Angie Willis - Survey Questions • Manley Peterson - Validity/Reliability

3. Purposes of Research • Pure (Basic Science) – To understand the nature of mathematical thinking, teaching and learning • Applied (Engineering) – To use the basic science understandings to improve mathematics instruction

4. Questions that Research in Mathematics Education Address: • Theoretical perspectives for understanding thinking, learning, and teaching • Descriptions of aspects of cognition • Existence proofs • Descriptions of consequences of various forms of instruction

5. Theories and Models • In mathematics, theories are explicit, results are obtained analytically, and models are precise approximations. • Theories and models in the sciences are always subject to revision and refinement.

6. Descriptive power Explanatory power Predictive power Scope Rigor and specificity Falsifiability Replicability Multiple sources of evidence Criteria for Evaluating Models and Theories

7. Evaluating Models and Theories • Descriptive power – capacity of a theory to capture “what counts.” • Explanatory power – providing explanations of how and why things work. • Predictive power – test of theory that can specify results in advance of their taking place. • Scope – range of phenomena covered by the theory

8. Evaluating Models and Theories (continued) • Rigor and Specificity – specifying a set of objects and relationships among the model or theory • Falsifiability – for making predictions whose accuracy can be tested empirically. • Replicability – ability of independent researchers to go through the same body of data and compare results. • Multiple sources of evidence – the more independent sources of confirmation, the more robust a finding is likely to be.

9. Last Semester Background • Last semester was spent acquiring the background information we needed to perform an experiment. • This semester we implemented our knowledge gained from last semester into a survey instrument.

10. The Research Plan

11. What is a Research Plan? • A detailed description of a proposed study • Justification for the study • Detailed description of the steps that will be followed • Information about the analysis of the collected data

12. A good research plan will • help the researcher save time • provide structure for the study • reduce the probability of costly mistakes • result in higher quality research

13. General Considerations in a Research Plan • The ethics of conducting research • The legal restrictions on access to records • Strategies for achieving and maintaining cooperation

14. The Ethics of Research • While doing research, there are many ethical considerations to be followed, the two main rules being: • The participants should not be harmed in any way • The participants privacy rights are maintained

15. The government has developed laws to protect research participants from harm and invasion of privacy • The National Research Act of 1974 requires that proposed research activities involving humans subjects be reviewed and approved by an authorized group in an institution. • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 protects the privacy of the educational records of students.

16. Gaining Entry to the Research Site • In order to do research, the participation of many people is required. • The first step is getting permission from the necessary group or organizations where you are going to do the research. • In our study we had to receive permission from the Institutional Research Board(IRB) here on campus. The IRB is an organization that protects the rights of the participants in the study, and makes sure no ethical issues will be involved. The only problem that we had was that they wanted us to put the following statement on top of our survey “Informed Consent: Participation in this survey is strictly voluntary and confidential.”

17. Gaining Entry to the Research Site (continued) • Once formal permission is granted for the study, the researcher must get the participation of participants in the study.

18. Components of the Research Plan • Introduction Section • Method Section • Time Schedule • Budget (if appropriate)

19. Introduction Section • This section should be written using terms that are of common usage, and includes: • A statement of the topic • A review of the related literature • A statement of the hypothesis

20. Method Section • A description of the participants including • The number, source, and characteristics of the sample. • Where the sample was drawn • What instrument will be used in the study and how it will be developed

21. Method Section (continued) • The procedure that will be followed in conducting the research from beginning to end, including: • A description of the technique to be used in selecting the sample • Exactly what is going to occur in the study • Any identified assumptions and limitations • It should be as detailed as possible

22. Method Section (continued) • The last part of the methods section should also include information on data analysis, which includes a description of the technique that will be used to analyze the study data.

23. Time Schedule • The major activities of the research should be listed in a time schedule, with their anticipated completion dates. • The researcher needs to • Allow for more time to complete the study than she thinks • Plan for down time • Set the finishing date earlier than the final deadline for completion

24. Summary of Research Plan • The Research Plan is important to any study: • it helps keep the research ethical • it helps to keep participation up • and overall it helps the researchers keep on track and on schedule.

25. Selection and Definition of a Topic

26. Identifying a Topic to Research • The first step in selecting a research topic is to identify a general area that is related to your area of expertise and is of particular interest to you. • There are three main sources of research topics: theory, personal experience, and replication

27. Theory • Theories are composed of organized bodies of concepts, generalizations, and principles. Research studies commonly test or examine particular aspects of a theory to determine its applicability.

28. Personal Experience • A researcher’s personal experiences and concerns often lead to useful and personally rewarding studies. • Commonly asked questions such as, “Why does that happen?” and “How would a different group respond to this approach?” can provide rich sources of topics if followed up.

29. Replication • Replication is repeating an existing study. • It is generally expected that some features of the replication (e.g., sample, instruments) will differ from the original study.

30. Identifying a Topic • Once an initial topic is identified, it usually needs to be narrowed and focused into a manageable topic to study. • Qualitative and quantitative research often differ in the timing of narrowing their topics. • Quantitative topics are narrowed as quickly as possible. • Qualitative topics are usually delayed until time is spent in the setting.

31. Characteristics of Good Topics • A good problem has theoretical or practical significance; its solution should contribute in some way to the improvement of the educational process. • When writing a topic statement, you should indicate the variables of interest, the specific relationship between those variables that is to be investigated, and, ideally, the type of participants involved.

32. Our Chosen Topic • Why do UW-Stout students choose the concentrations they do in the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science major?

33. Formulation and Statement of a Hypothesis

34. Hypothesis • A hypothesis is a statement of the researcher’s prediction or guess of the relation that exists among the variables being investigated. • The researcher does not set out to prove his or her hypothesis, but rather, collects data to determine whether the hypothesis is supported or not by the data.

35. Formulation of a Hypothesis • General ideas about a hypothesis: • It should be a statement relating variable phenomena to a predicted result. • It should be a statement which can be proven or disproved. • Multiple hypotheses strengthen the technique. • Biased hypotheses must be adequately identified and carefully watched.

36. Characteristics of a Hypothesis • It is based on sound reasoning. • It provides a reasonable explanation for the predicted outcome. • It clearly states the expected relationship between defined variables. • It is testable within a reasonable time frame.

37. Types of Hypotheses • Inductive – a generalization made from a number of observations. • Deductive – derived from theory and is aimed at providing evidence that supports, expands, or contradicts aspects of a given theory. • Research – states the expected relationship (or difference) between two variables.

38. Types of Hypotheses (continued) • Non-directional – indicates that a relationship or difference exists but does not indicate the direction of the difference. • Directional – indicates that a relationship or difference exists and indicates the direction of the difference. • Null – there is no significant relationship (or difference) between variables.

39. Hypothesis Testing • Thetwo basic principles of hypothesis testing: • The formulation of two mutually exclusive hypothesis statements that, together, exhaust all possible outcomes. • The testing of these so that one is necessarily accepted and the other rejected.

40. Our Hypotheses 1. We believe a stronger presence of women on the AMCS faculty would encourage female students to enroll. 2. We believe women might be discouraged from trying Software Development, because it is competitive. 3. We believe teachers and advisors do not motivate female students towards Software Development as much as they motivate male students.

41. Our Hypotheses (continued) 4. We believe remunerative (financial) aspects might be more important to men than to women. 5. We believe students who select the Business Management concentration are more likely to rank the social dimensions of an occupation more highly than those students in Software Development.

42. Testing Our Hypotheses • Whether you are testing hypotheses or seeking answers to questions, you must decide on an instrument to collect your data. • Our instrument was a survey made up of ten questions, pertaining to each of our hypotheses.

43. What Our Survey Questions Were

44. Questions Generated From our Hypotheses We chose to use a Likert scale for our survey. A Likert scale asks participants to respond to a series of statements by indicating whether they strongly disagree, disagree, are neutral, agree, or strongly agree with each statement. Each answer in a Likert scale can be assigned a point value which helps in the data analysis process.

45. Demographics For demographic information we asked each survey participant their gender. We also asked for their choice of concentration from these choices: • Software Development • Business Management • Actuarial Science The survey participants were instructed that if they had not yet chosen a concentration to circle the one they were leaning toward. Also if a participant’s concentration was not listed we asked them to select the one closest to their concentration.

46. While writing these statements we: • Avoided words that forced the survey participants to interpret them • Avoided statements that might be offensive to some of the participants • Worked to make the statements clear and accurate towards what we were trying to test • The following slides will show the survey statements we generated according to our hypotheses.

47. Hypothesis: • We believe a stronger presence of women on the AMCS faculty would encourage female students to enroll. • Survey Statements: • The fact that the Software Development concentration is mostly male dominated strongly influenced my choice of concentration. • MSCS teacher gender heavily influenced my choice of concentration. • With a woman program director, Software Development is a more appealing concentration to me.

48. Hypothesis: • We believe remunerative (financial) aspects might be more important to men than to women. • Survey Statements: • A high paying job is very important to me. • I chose my concentration because of its potential job opportunities.

49. Hypothesis: • We believe women might be discouraged from trying Software Development, because it is competitive. • Survey Statements: • I enjoy working in a competitive environment. • If given a choice, I’d prefer taking a more challenging class, as opposed to a less challenging one.

50. Hypothesis: • We believe students who select the Business Management concentration are more likely to rank the social dimensions of an occupation more highly than those students in Software Development. • Survey Statement: • A lot of social interaction is important in my career path.