EDU621: Research Identification

EDU621 A4: Identifying Purpose Statements, Research Questions, Hypotheses

4a. Purpose Statement:

The purpose of this research is to identify the possible effects documentation of material usage has on student material consumption in ninth grade technology classes.

4b. Research Questions:

• How does documentation of material used in a project affect how much material ninth graders use in future projects?
• How does estimation of material to be used affect material usage during a project?
• Do students come to class thinking about how much material they will be using in a project/class/model?
• How might restricted material usage affect how much students learn about material qualities and interlocking part tolerances(how well things fit together)?

4c. Research Hypothesis:

• If students in a ninth grade technology class are required to document material usage after they make a prototype, they will not use less modeling material while prototyping future projects.
• Students in a ninth grade technology class which restricts material consumption or prototype iterations will have less success creating interlocking parts in final models than students in unrestrictive classes.
• If students in a ninth grade technology class are required to estimate potential material usage they will use less modeling material while prototyping projects.
• If ninth grade students draft guidelines for material consumption they will use less materials in projects than classes without guidelines.

4d. Research Objective:

1. To describe student preconceived views and stances on material usage in schools.
2. To relate type of material usage documentation, pre or post prototype, to material usage during projects.
3. To determine how bottlenecking material usage can limit prototype assembly success.