Part+4+-+Case+Study

=Part 4 - A Case Study = Case study of student - to include:
 * Observed attitude, assessment and behavior information;
 * Successful and unsuccessful instructional strategies;
 * Reflection on student progress.

This case study involves an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single student in my VHS class. To evaluate the effectiveness of an online course, including its strength and weaknesses, a case study depicting a student's experience in a program can provide evidence of successes and failures in a course:

D is a fourteen year old Israeli student living in Switzerland and attending Zurich International School. For the first five week's D was a model student. After having several middle school students in my class the previous semester I was a little apprehensive but D seemed very mature and got off to a great start. See artifact #1 below for a sample of his introductory activity, in which students used the letters of their name to describe their personality.
 * Examine the nature of the student's participation:**

During Week 6 D became involved in a school production that seemed to take all of his free time. For the first time he began to miss assignments and stopped taking part in discussions. He contacted me within the first week to tell me that he was behind but would get caught up right away. See artifact #3 below for a transcript of some of our conversations in the Private Thread.
 * Note changes in the student's participation:**

D seemed to connect with his classmates because of his varied interests, especially theater. See artifact #4 below for a transcript of his interactions with other students in the Reading Discussions area.
 * Note student dialog with other students and with the instructor. How do the learner and teacher interact? How does the learner interact with other learners?**

D seems to have a good grasp of the subject matter and is able to express his ideas well. He responds to what other students write by agreeing and/or adding his own thoughts to the subject. I believe the artifacts demonstrate that D is academically more mature than the average middle school student.
 * What types of thinking skills/information processing does the learner exhibit during their online discussions?**

D's online time, as measured in the Course Statistics area of the Control Panel, was slightly higher than average. He has his own laptop and if his family is traveling on the weekend he will find a wifi hotspot in order to post his work but much of his work is done offline.
 * How much time in relation to their peers dis this student spend online?**

D is very familiar with technology and has been able to solve some of his problems on his own. For example, his laptop only uses Chrome (he is not allowed to add programs of his own) and he was having difficulty uploading assignments. On his own he published documents to Google docs and then sent the link to me. [|Biology of the Brain Project]
 * How familiar and competent is the student with technology?**

For the first several weeks D had an average between 96-99%. By March 17th his average had dropped to an 87% and his term 1 average was a 64%. At present, the second day of week 10, his average for term 2 is a 0%. I have been in contact with his SC and it is my hope that he will be back on track soon. He certainly has the academic ability!
 * How successful academically is the student?**

=Artifacts=

[|5-Introductory.pdf] This is a compilation of D's introductory post and his comments on other students' posts. I've included it because it shows a level of maturity and his ease when talking about himself with his peers.

[|5-essay.pdf] This is D's submission for the assignment described below. I included it because it shows that he takes his studies seriously and has a real desire to learn more about psychology. Write a short essay (3-5 paragraphs) answering the questions below. Please compose this essay as a Word document (.doc or .rtf file), and when you have finished, be sure to proofread and check for grammar/spelling/etc. errors. Submit your essay by clicking on the "view/complete" link at the bottom of the screen. Attach the file containing your essay (see the Media Center instructions below for help in submitting an assignment) and be sure to click submit when you are finished.
 * // Assignment //**
 * What are your reasons for taking this course?
 * What do you hope to learn this semester?
 * Do you plan on making a future career in the field of psychology? If so, what area?

[|5-6-Research.pdf] In the second week of the course students are to design a research project. This is a good example of the quality of work that D is capable of.

= //**Design a Research Project**//  = In this week's readings, you read about the various types of research that are conducted in the field of psychology. Now is your chance to create your own research project that you may (or may not) actually test out.

**// Assignment //**
To complete this activity, follow the steps below:
 * **Decide on a question or topic**, relating to psychology, that you would like to test. For example, "Will a young child pick up a new word, even if it's not a real word, if it is used around them frequently?". __**Submit your question in your PT by Friday for approval**.__ Your topic does not have to be something you can actually test in real life.
 * **Form your hypothesis** **.** What do you think is the answer to this question?
 * Identify the **Dependent Variable**  and the  **Independent Variable**.
 * What types of **bias**  are possible in such an experiment? Explain them based on what you learned from the readings.
 * How would you **standardize** the experiment? Explain the steps involved in completing the experiment.
 * What **type of research** would be done to complete this study - case study, survey, naturalistic observation, etc.? Explain.

[|5-4-RdgDis.pdf] I've included D's participation in the weekly reading discussions to demonstrate how much he participated and his level of interest in the first weeks of class. I think that his absence from the forums is a great loss for the class and I am hoping that by working with him and his SC that we can get him back to that level again.

[|5-5-SC.pdf] This is one of the discussions between myself and D's SC that I have included to give you an idea of how involved his participation in the school performance was.

[|5-3PTs.pdf] Finally, the discussions between D and myself as I've tried to get him back on track. In typical fourteen year-old fashion he makes promises for a quick turn around but he has not followed through as of yet.