Excel Activity

         In class we have been working on an action research project that involves comparing the test scores of different types of students to see what factors affect grades. First we uses the data on the excel spread sheet to construct formulas to find out the number and percentages of male and female and traditional or non traditional students and their average scores. Then we used pie and bar charts to graph the data. We found out that girls scored higher than boys, but a T test showed that the discrepancy in scores was not statistically significant. However, the data showed that traditional students scored higher than nontraditional students, and this was statistically significant.

      After that we created a document on Microsoft Word to present our findings. We learned that in APA page formatting, a essay should be double-spaced with 1" margins, and 10-12 pt. Times New Roman font. You should include a page header with the page number on the right, and the title of your paper on the left. Tables and charts must follow specific formatting, not begin a page, and have titles. Your reference list should be at the end of your paper and provide the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each cited source in the paper should be in your reference list and every each in the reference list must be cited in your text. The reference list should have a hanging indentation, author’s last names first, and put in alphabetical order by the author’s last names.

     I think this activity best models that ISTE NETS for Teachers standard 3 c. because with tools like Excel and Word, students can learn analze and evaluate data and communicate the information and ideas effectively to those around them. Also, the data we worked with, for example, is very relevent to education because it is important to recognize patterns and trends in student performance.