Jan 4, 2008

Study 3: English homework help

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The purpose of Study 3 was to further examine the factor structure and internal consistency of the HPQ using another sample. The same grade level (seventh) from another country was used for this purpose. The five items that neither met the psychometric criteria nor had the content consistency of the items within the respective component were deleted for this analyses. However, several questionable items that did not meet some of the retention criteria still remained for further exploratory analyses with the current sample (English homework help).

Method

The participants were 220 Korean seventh graders (114 males and 106 females). These participants were from six randomly chosen classes from two public junior high schools in the capital of Korea. All students who were present on the day the investigation was conducted participated. The revised HPQ (HPQ-2) was the 83-item questionnaire, which was group administered to students in their classrooms (English homework help).

Results

We examined the factor structure with the criteria of 15 factors derived from Study 2 first, with the intention of continuing the analyses in the event that the finding was not deemed appropriate. The 15-factor solution accounted for 51% of the variance. In general, the current findings were consistent with those of Study 2; thus, no further EFA was conducted. The findings are summarized to compare with those of Study 2. The eigen-values of the 15 factors ranged from 1.66 to 5.00 (English homework help).

Internal Consistency and Item Selection

The item retention criteria were the same as those used in Study 2. The coefficient alpha and recommendations for the questionnaire revision are as follows (English homework help):

a.  Environmental: sound .82, light .88, temperature .90, design .81, place .72. Factor loadings were all greater than .35 and each item loaded on only one factor. All original items were to be retained.
b.  Organizational: structure .65, order .76. With one item eliminated from each component, the internal consistency estimates were improved. Although some of the structure items had relatively small loading sizes, the content of items were consistent. Thus, we retained these items for further examination.
c.  Motivational: self-motivated .66, parent-motivated .69, teacher-motivated .78, persistence .58, responsibility .56. The internal consistency estimate of the persistence component in the Korean sample were lower than those of the U.S. sample (English homework help). However, because of the inconsistency in alpha across the two samples, and the relevance and quality of item composition were reasonable, we decided to retain the four items for further examination.

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Jan 3, 2008

Chemistry homework help

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Chemistry homework help:  My conceptual model of homework Performance is presented in Figure 1.1. The conceptual components of homework performance may be divided into two categories, motivation and preference. The first category, motivation, postulates the source and strength of the motives that explain the initial activation of the process of doing the required homework assignments. This category offers possible answers to the most basic questions: Why do learners comply at all with the teacher’s request that they do their homework and with the instructions about how to do them? What influences whether or not a learner will start and willingly perform homework? The second category, preference, influences the degree to which the learner will proceed and continue homework efforts until finished. What are the intrapersonal and interpersonal preferences of the individual about how, where, when, and with whom to do homework? The match of the demand characteristics of the homework assignments themselves, as determined by the teacher, with the level of motivation and the pattern of interpersonal and intrapersonal preferences of the learner doing the homework determines whether the goals of homework will be accomplished.

Chemistry homework help:  The category of motivation in the homework Performance model may be further divided into two subcategories, sources and strength. Three sources of motivation to perform homework are formulated. A learner may be self-motivated, parent-motivated, and/or teacher-motivated. These three components are not mutually exclusive. A learner’s motivation to perform homework may be influenced by one, two, or three sources in degrees.
1) Self-motivated refers to an individual’s personal and intrinsic willingness to learn at home.
(2) Parent-motivated refers to the efforts of learners to do their homework in order to satisfy their parents.

Chemistry homework help:  The degree to which parents motivate their children to do homework is frequently a consequence of parental intervention and involvement. Parents who demonstrate interest in homework, offer reasonable help as required, and provide appropriate rewards and reinforcement for consistent and successful homework performance, can increase motivation to do homework. Conversely, parents who give no attention to homework performance and give the impression that they do not consider it important can lower homework motivation. Finally, parents who are over-involved with their children’s homework may produce a conflict situation that negatively affects the parent–child relationship as well as the child’s homework motivation (Chemistry homework help).

(3) Teacher-motivated refers to students devoting time and effort to the homework tasks in order to satisfy their teachers. High motivation to perform homework may reflect the overall teacher–pupil relationship. If the relationship is highly positive in a variety of ways, doing the homework that that teacher assigns is one way to express regard and respect for the teacher and to earn the respect of the teacher. Conversely, teachers may be responsible for low motivation to perform homework (Chemistry homework help).

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Jan 2, 2008

Profiling Homework Motivation and Help with Homework

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We developed an instrument designed to assess the components of homework performance and subjected it to an extensive validation process. Although teachers and parents may be able to observe certain patterns of learning preference and motivation levels of children, some component learning preferences are not readily observable and the behaviors associated with them are often misinterpreted. For example, a child who cannot sit quietly in his or her chair at a desk is often viewed as troublesome and not wanting to do the homework. However, it might be that this child needs to move about in the room or from room to room or prefers to do homework in an informal arrangement such as sitting on a sofa or in a lounge chair or sprawled on a rug on the floor (help with homework).

It is a challenge to correctly identify the optimal conditions that will help students do their homework successfully and enjoyably, on one hand, and to recognize the reasons for student homework difficulties, on the other. In order to meet the challenge, it is important to have correct information about homework motivation and preference. To obtain correct information, a reliable and valid assessment instrument is needed. Because the information we seek is the pattern of self-perceived preferences, a self-report measure can be used in the assessment process. Whether the preferences for doing homework are the same as those actually used is an interesting and important question that is discussed in depth in the next section (help with homework).

As with all self-report instruments, the validity of the assessment of homework motivation and preference is based on the assumption that learners are aware of, perceive, and can report their own preferences accurately. Because one can never be sure that the data gathered is completely accurate, it is especially important to provide evidence that the instrument used to collect data demonstrates a reasonable degree of reliability and validity. As with other instruments, some students may be tired during the administration, not focused on the task at hand, or reluctant to share their views on homework. Accordingly, they may not respond to the questionnaire in complete sincerity. Additionally, a student may misinterpret one or more of the items and thus distort the assessment. The homework Motivation and Preference Questionnaire (HMPQ) is designed to yield a profile of each student’s homework motivation and preference and to serve as a guide for adjusting homework assignments for individual learners. Accordingly, users should exercise particular caution to establish the reliability of responses not only for the entire group but for individual students as well (help with homework).

This blog presents the background and history of the development and validation of the HMPQ and describes the modification and revision process that has taken place. The instrument is ready to be used for student assessment; however, the process of modification and validation will progress (help with homework).

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Dec 28, 2007

Study 1: live homework help

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We used the definition of homework performance to develop a questionnaire that assesses learners’ homework motivation and preference, to define categories, subcategories, and components of the questionnaire, and to generate and refine test items. As indicated earlier, the items were initially derived from the LSI, an instrument that is used to assess in-school learning styles. Accordingly, it was necessary to conduct a multistep process of adding, deleting, and modifying items in order to establish an initial item pool that was representative of and relevant to our domain of interest, that is, home learning preferences (live homework help).

Method

Four steps were employed to identify the components and categories of home learning preferences and to construct items for a homework preference questionnaire (live homework help).

  1. The purposes of the questionnaire development were thoroughly considered to determine whether an adoption and modification of existing instruments would be feasible.
  2. The literatures on learning styles and homework were reviewed and analyzed.
  3. Previously published learning style scales were examined.
  4. A decision was made on whether to develop an entirely new questionnaire or to adopt and modify existing ones.

 

It was decided that the models that support the goal of the current questionnaire development were the learning style models. These multidimensional models share certain conceptual similarities with those that we aim to assess, and have been widely accepted and used in elementary and secondary schools. Thus, it was decided that we adopt and modify these models and inventories  for the development of a homework preference questionnaire. Next, some of the items were selected from the existing inventories and some new items were constructed. The initial pool of items was then reviewed (live homework help). We eliminated and modified redundant and overly simple or confusing items, ensured proper grammatical structure and readability level for school-aged children, varied directionality by providing positive and negative statements where applicable, and ensured that each category had adequate coverage and that each item reflected only one homework preference component. In the process of item development, we considered the length of the questionnaire, thus, trying to limit each component to as small number of items as possible without compromising the psychometric quality of the inventory (live homework help).

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Dec 26, 2007

What Is Homework Performance (biology homework help)

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Biology homework help:  Homework performance may be defined as the process that occurs when a learner begins, makes continued effort to work on, and completes at home or in another out-of-school setting, the learning tasks assigned at school. Each learner has a distinct, personal homework performance pattern that consists of a unique profile of motivation and preferences that influence compliance with and completion of the requirements of homework tasks. This definition clearly reflects our emphasis on the characteristics of the student doing the homework and not those of the homework itself. Homework assignments may be performed well or poorly. The concept of homework performance does not refer to good performance only, but rather to the full range of performance from well done to poorly done.

Biology homework help:  Homework by definition takes place without concomitant teacher direction. In school, the learner is part of a class group and learns in a certain way usually determined by the teacher, occasionally by a group of students and only rarely by the individual student. By contrast, when it comes to homework, learners have choices. First of all, they can decide whether to do the homework at all and how much time and effort to invest in doing the assigned tasks. Once they have made these decisions, they can choose to do homework in a variety of ways and presumably do it the way they like. There are a wide variety of individual differences in homework performance among learners both in the source and strength of motivation to do homework, and in preferences about what, when, where, how, and with whom they like to do it. We developed a conceptual model designed to comprehend, explain, and improve the homework process for the benefit of learners, teachers, and parents.

Biology homework help:  Until now, our research on homework has used a bottom–up or inductive approach. Our studies that focus on the personal–social characteristics of the child doing the homework are described in detail in the chapters that follow. We first established that in-school learning style and out-of-school homework style are empirically distinguishable. We examined homework preferences in children of three age groups and in four different cultures. We investigated whether children’s preferred home learning styles differ from their actual homework learning styles. We also examined the homework preferences of children who were intellectually gifted or highly creative in their thinking. In each study, we investigated the validity and reliability of the measure used to assess individual homework motivation and preferences and improved its psychometric characteristics. As you read these chapters, please bear in mind that later studies reflect changes in the instruments used over the course of this programmatic research.

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