Reflection On Formative Assessment Education Essay

Reflection On Formative appraisal Education Es dictateFor my reflection on scholarship I am going to discuss writing subsidization 01. I come up that I did a pretty great job with writing assignment 01, however, theres forever room for improvement. The easiest part of the assignment was ofcause the multiplex extract questions which I dissolveed use mostly the worldwide noesis that I concord gathered everywhere past m any(prenominal) grades of studying business organization Management the sec part of the assignment was to write a literature follow-up which was a more con examination task to accomplish. schoolman writing is non an favorable task and often takes old age to master fully. So at this stage, I wanted to be salubrious on my way to becoming a die writer and a detective.I believe that I bear improved on some(prenominal) my donnish writing and organizational skills. by and by going through week 4s content, I had congeal goals for myself to do b etter at organizing breeding, such as sourcing literature and writing rough the information. I had hoped to devote a better pinch of what a literature check out is in order to incorporate this knowledge into my paper, as well as improve on my own ideas, and I feel deal I have done that. correspond to Badenhorst (2010, p. 16) Writing is currency in academia. It doesnt issue how many ideas we have. If we cleart transform those ideas into something material, we have nothing worth trading. Therefore, I had withal wanted to be cle arr when coming up with ideas in a concise, logical and integrated manner so that the person reading could well follow my argument and understand what I am trying to say. And one time again, I feel that I have done just that too.The general feed hold that I got on my first assignment was compulsive. some(prenominal) of suggestions that I had accepted from you were, Very good review. Evidence that the literature was studied and integrated in to t he review. You should review the APA style referencing. As you cited some of the references wrong in the text. forever cite doly. So I went back to revise the document that was assumption to us in the commencement of this faculty, namely, An Abridged Guide to the APA Referencing Style. I have persuadeed that when citing a paraphrase within the text of an assignment, the surname of the creator followed by a comma and the course of instruction of publication should be accustomed wholly or partly in round brackets. If referencing a turn to quote a comma and page number after the year should be added. I am now more comfortable with apply the APA style referencing and hopefully wont be repeating the same crackers mistakes I made in this assignment.ReferencesBadenhorst, C. (2010). Productive writing becoming a prolific schoolman writer. Pretoria Van Schaik Publishers.Reflection on learning in Assignment 02I believe assignment 02 was a real(a) chance for me to test my knowl edge and ability to reach the outcomes of the module. I say this because of the nature of this assignment. In general I used to perceive multiple choice types of questions as an opportunity to gain lightheaded extra marks. However, few questions in, I soon realized that assignment 02 was one of the most ch bothenging assignments that I had to complete this year. That is why I was relieved and pleasantly affect upon the release of the final marks. harmonise to the results, I have gotten 42 correct and 8 wild answers. Looking back on the assignment 02, I feel as though I was well-equipped in the majority of the questions in the assignment, especially on answering the questions relating to denary and qualitative designs, due to thoroughly going through the build in Week 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.I feel like my weak point in the multiple choice assignment was that I may have fallen for the distracters. The reason why I have gotten some of the questions wrong is because I struggled in in terpret the idea of the text and choosing one correct answer. Also, most of the questions that I got incorrect had to do with either sampling or data appealingness. subsequently this assignment I have learned the importance to have a good sagaciousness of measurement process, like takes of measurement, reliability and validity. Researchers need to understand the determine they attach to the information they collect. I believe that the tools I learned in this module have made me develop as a interrogationer and better prepargond me for the future.2.2 Weekly self-evaluationsInclude the two qualitative questions as self-reflections here for any troika weeks of your choice. In addition to including the content that you provided during the specialized weeks, withal add a further reflection on how you feel about your answers at this point in time, now that you look back at these reflectionsNrWeekSelf-reflections1A2Describe how you be finding this surgical incision of the module and the way in which it was cedeed.What did you like and what overhauled you to understand the material? On the other hand were there things that you did not understand properly in the way they were presented. How do you think we faecal matter improve our initiation and activities approximately this part of the wreak for this module?1B22A4Based on this weeks chapter, which content did you find easy to understand? What helped you to understand the material?What sections did you not understand properly? How do you think we can improve our presentation and activities around this part of the work for this module? In one or two paragraphs, explain the extent to which you are comfortable with your knowledge and understanding of the content of this introductory chapter2B43A7In one or two paragraphs, tell us how challenging you erect the content of this weeks work?Are you coping with the workload each week? What are you doing to help reach the targeted learning goals each week?3B72.3 Reflection on the value of enquiryAs an honours savant, an employee or employer in an organization, or a citizen of a country, you must make many decisions every day. Good, conscious decisions require knowledge. What are the sources of our knowledge? Some of it is acquired through formal schooling in honours and masters programs in social work, or from attendance on-going education programs. It may come from reading articles in commerceal journals, textbooks, or through online searches. It may also come from senior level experts who have been successful social workers for many years. Factually, much of the knowledge derived from these sources has one quality in rough-cut it is all derived from doing good look into (Bryman Bell 2007, p.4).Conducting seek is the most authoritative method of acquiring new knowledge about business and learning. Alternative slipway of knowing such as common sense, intuition, authority and tradition, have proven less useful for advancing our understanding of the complex process of learning (Mallick 1999, p.5). In the last 40 to 50 years, the value of research has actioned a great deal of respectability amongst educators, politicians, business people, and other who often turn to researchers in the quest for reliable and valid information for making decisions (Mallick 1999, p.3).By teaching savants the best ways to conduct research, they leave behind be equipped to acquire the knowledge infallible for making good, informed decisions in whatever social system level they may become employees or even potential employers. However, understanding how research should be conducted has a second benefit as it allows social workers or citizens of the country to critically and knowledgeably evaluate the research methods of others (e.g. leaders, politicians) and, thus, assess the credibility of the findings and recommendations that they generate.ReferencesBryman, A., Bell, E. (2007). Business Research Methods, Oxford University Press, New YorkMallick, K. (1999). Researching Education Perspectives and Techniques, Routledge, London1.0 IntroductionNowadays, close all curricula in the social studies contain at least one carry in statistics. So given the importance of this discipline as a basic knowledge to understand the modern world, it is needed to do some form of a research on the students spatial relation to statistics, as this could be an obstacle or an advantage in their learning process. From school, to home, to the workplace, statistics have become a part of our everyday life. In many circles, com roveer knowledge and competence in statistics is perceived as essential skills.In the beginning of their studies, many of the students are still not fully aware that they are indispensable to study research methodological analysis and statistics as an entire module in order to complete their degree. The emphasis placed on statistics and research tie in skills without a doubt virtually always surprise th em. Some of the students even develop a phobia or an concern towards this schoolman subject that they tend to feel nervous and uncomfortable when they are required to deal with statistics and research link up problems.In order to get a thorough understanding about Unisas students military strength towards research methods and statistics, this research provide aim at investigating the factors influencing their locating, by looking at anguish, self-efficacy they put into studying statistics as well as their donnishian achievement.2.0 Literature reviewIn order to understand the implications of this research, an explanation of the key variants found in the literature review must first be discussed.2.1 Students military positions toward statisticsThe readiness of students to exit courses in statistics can, apart from mathematical and intellectual ability, also be viewed in terms of emotional and attitudinal factors (Coetzee 2010, p.1). Attitude toward statistics can be defin ed as a combination of a students side toward the use of statistics in their sphere of influence of study and the students attitudes towards the statistics course (Coetzee 2010, p.1). Although some students show a positive attitude toward statistics, evidence reveals that unfavourable responses far outweigh any favourable responses (Coetzee 2011, p1). Perepiczka et al. (2011) has inform that students often enter statistics courses with prohibit views or later develop negative feelings regarding the subject matter of statistics (p.100).According to Perepiczka et al. (2011), statistics courses are regarded by most students as an obstacle to obtaining their degree. These same students often delay taking their statistic courses until they cannot postpone it further. Researchers also found that students negative attitudes toward statistics is an influencing factor in low student effect in statistics courses (Perepiczka et al., 2011, p.101).2.2 Statistics AnxietyIn this study statist ics disturbance is one of the three factors that influence students attitude towards statistics. Researchers documented a big(a) amount of information on statistics anxiety over the years. For example, there are multiple definitions of statistics anxiety available in the literature. Elliot and Dweck (2005) defined statistics anxiety as the feeling of anxiety encountered when taking a statistics course or doing statistical analysis (p.243). According to Onwuegbuzie, DaRos, and Ryan (1997) statistics anxiety refers to the apprehension that occurs as a result of encountering statistics in any form at any level (p.28).The existing literature also identifies situation specific nature of statistics anxiety, ranging in intensity from mild to severe. bit the mild form of statistics anxiety may induce scarce low discomfort, severe forms can result in nervousness, panic and worry (Alauddin Butler, 2004, p.202). According to Onwuegbuzie (2000), majority of ammonia alum students in the s ocial sciences appeared to experience high levels of statistics anxiety, and it was found to be higher among fe virile alum students in comparison to their male colleagues. Statistics anxiety may be a critical factor in influencing and attaining a students schoolman and professional goals.Baloglu (2003) identified three categories of variables, situational, dispositional, and environmental, that are pushd to statistics anxiety (p.856). Situational experiences are factors that surround the student, which allow ins precedent statistics experiences.Dispositional experiences are intrapersonal factors that include mental and emotional characteristics made up of issues such as perfectionism and perception of abilities at developmental stages in life (Baloglu, 2003, p.856). Environmental experiences are interpersonal factors related to the classroom experience (Onwuegbuzie Daly, 1999), which can include the students experiences with the professor.2.3 Self-Efficacy to Learn Statistic sPerepiczka et al. (2011) defines general self-efficacy as ones judgments of his or her capabilities to organize and carry out courses of action required to attain specific types of public presentations. In other words self-efficacy to learn statistics is a persons pledge in his or her ability to successfully learn statistical skills necessary in a statistics course. Perepiczka stated that self-efficacy beliefs are manifested from four elemental coil sources, which include the following personal accomplishments, vicarious learning experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal. These primary sources lay the foundation for building the concept of self-efficacy to learn statistics.There is a lot of information available on self-ability or self-efficacy related to academic achievement (Balogu, 2003, p.858). However, little is known specifically about self-efficacy to learn statistics. Perepiczka (2011) investigated whether self-efficacy to learn statistics is related to perfo rmance in a statistics course and whether self-efficacy to learn statistics change magnitude during a 12-week introductory statistics course. One hundred and three students from a large university partook in the survey. Perepiczka (2011) stated that there was a positive relationship mingled with statistics self-efficacy and academic achievement as well as an increase in self-efficacy to learn statistics over the duration of the course.2.4 Relationship surrounded by Attitude and Academic AchievementThere are indeed numerous researches conducted on testing the relationship in the midst of attitude and academic achievement. Based on the previous literature, there is a general agreement that attitude could be regarded as a significant determinant of ones academic achievement. Most of these researches illustrated the more positive ones attitude towards an academic subject, the higher the possibility for him/her to perform well academically (Lilian, 2012, p. 156). The same applies vi ce-versa, students that previously have been performing well in mathematics field, generally have a more positive attitude towards statistics.In a research conducted in the U.S, the academics studied the relationship between students attitudes and academic achievement in college mathematics by inviting 218 freshmen to complete a set of questionnaire. The result indicated that students attitudes were highly correlated with their achievement in college calculus (Lilian, 2012, p. 156). In another longitudinal study also conducted in the U.S., the researchers assessed the relationship between attitude towards mathematics and achievement in mathematics. It was found that attitude had a powerful influence on students academic achievement (Lilian, 2012, p. 156).3.0 Problem instructionStatistics at a tertiary level is often a daunting task facing students undertaking these courses. This attitude amongst students have been shown to directly influence their motivation to study, achievement in statistic modules, and overall enrolment in statistics courses that are not compulsory, especially in the final year of undergraduate degrees and graduate student years of study.Students attitude towards statistics is essentially either positive or negative, but remains a multifactorial issue. The most common factors that are assessed are preconceptions about statistics, environmental factors (e.g. age, gender, etc.), previous mathematical experience, mathematical aptitude, beliefs, interests, the number of years elapsed since students last statistics course etc.Students with a negative attitude tend to focus only if on the method of assessment which only serves to increase their test anxiety.Since students attitudes toward examinations and other non-cognitive factors can affect their performance levels in statistics courses (Onwuegbuzie, 2000), Students also view some forms of assessment as more anxiety inducing than others, thus affecting their performance in the assessments . A syllabus of assessment also should include means for determining students impressions of the relevance and pallidity of the assessment process (Onwuegbuzie, 2000) to determine what can be done to digest assessment anxiety.Students with positive attitudes towards statistics tend to have a higher performance in statistics courses than students with negative attitudes. With this in mind, it would be an excellent idea for lecturers teaching statistical courses to promote a positive attitude towards statistics, not only as a professional tool, but also a something that can be used every day as a substitution skill. It efficacy also be plausible that the first goal in teaching statistics should be to reduce the fear of statistics before introducing the course work (Coetzee 2010, p.2).4.0 Objectives of the researchThis study primarily has two main objectives. First, the current research intends to test whether attitude is significantly related to anxiety and self-efficacy. Second, the study aims to test whether attitude serves as a mediated factor between anxiety, self-efficacy and academic achievement.From the specified research objectives, the following research questions are derivedWhat is the graduate student attitude toward statistics?What is the graduate student self-efficacy level?What is the graduate student statistics anxiety?What is the graduate student level of academic achievement?Does attitude fulfill a role in affecting students academic effort?Does self-efficacy bid a role in affecting students academic attitude?Does students academic attitude play a role in affecting their academic achievement?Does attitude play a mediating role between anxiety, self-efficacy and academic achievement?What is the extent of the relationship, if any, between graduate students self-efficacy to learn statistics and statistics anxiety and the attitude towards statistics?5.0 Method of investigation5.1 Research designIn the current research, quantitative research m ethod ordain be implemented. Concerning the primary data show method, self-completed questionnaire will be used because it is comparatively timesaving and has the benefit of collecting responses from a large group of subjects with a relatively low cost.5.2 SamplingStudents of both the genders will constitute the population of this study. The study population will populate of all honours students registered for a course in research methodology at a distance education institution in 2012 (N = 2340).The primary reason for targeting students registered for this subject is due to the fact that all of them have almost completed the research methods and statistics course hence it will be easier for them to answer the survey questions.Concerning the sampling method, convenience sampling and snowball sampling will be used in the process of selecting samples from the target population. Regarding convenience sampling, it is a sampling method in which samples are selected on the basis of eas y availability. Since I as the researcher am also an honours student at a distance education institution I can easily approach students studying the same course via online forums, email, etc. After distributing the questionnaires to those students that i personally will come in touch with, I will then invite the respondents to further recruit or supercharge the subjects from among their acquaintances to fill out the questionnaire to boost participation, and this is known as the snowball sampling.5.3 info collection Ethical considerationsAn introductory letter explaining the purpose of the study will go with each questionnaire. The participants will also be assured in the letter about the confidentiality and the non-disclosure of information that they will provide. Additionally, respondents will not be required to provide sensitive or detailed personal information, like their full name. Instead, respondents will only need to indicate their gender, race, major and year of study. In order to further guarantee anonymity, and so there is no way for a researcher to identify which questionnaire belongs to which respondent, further measures will be implemented. Participants will not be required to hand in the questionnaire to the researcher directly but to put the completed questionnaires in a collection pile.The questionnaires will be made up of some open and closed in(p) questions as well as some multiple choice questions. Also, a meeting with the respondents will be arranged at the selected Unisa venue. At this seance the objective of the study will briefly be explained and any questions that the respondents might have will be answered. The respondents will then be boost to complete the questionnaire during the meeting. If a participant requests a removal from the study at any time, he or she will be removed immediately.5.4 information analysisAs one of the main aims of this research is to establish hold up a relationship exists between students attitude to wards statistics with respect to statistics anxiety, self-efficacy as well as academic performance, coefficient of correlational analyses will be conducted. Correlational studies are those in which an attempt is made to relate two or more variables to each other. However, there is a caution by researchers that a correlation between variables does not necessarily allow us to claim that the set of one variable cause changes in the values of another variable (Linden, 1982, p.17). A simple linear regression analysis will be computed in order to determine which variables predicted students attitudes towards statistics. In this analysis, a single variable depends on or is influenced by one or more variables (Linden, 1982, p.17).In analysing the relationship between the variables, reliability test will be conducted to pass judgment the reliability of the scales adopted in the current study. Descriptive statistics will be used to show the demographic characteristics of the respondents. A nd finally, the multiple regression analyses will be used to estimate the prediction power of statistics anxiety and self-efficacy on attitude and the prediction power of attitude, self-efficacy, and statistics anxiety on academic achievement.6.0 ConclusionThe present research further supports that there is a direct relationship between attitude, anxiety, and self-efficacy and academic achievement as suggested in past literature. It is detected that attitude has a direct effect on academic achievement while self-efficacy also has a direct effect on academic achievement.Researching predictors of graduate students statistical self-efficacy beliefs is important to identifying possible barriers to professional growth and development. Exploring how statistical self-efficacy beliefs relate to predicting future academic expectations, performance, effort, persistence, and course selection also is important to research as a means of promoting professional development (Perepiczka et al., 20 11, p.106).Teaching graduate students how to reduce their anxiety and improve their attitude will likely get up their value of statistics and further encourage their professional development in the profession that requires work with statistics.