SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad
SIT Digital Collections
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01).'
An Evaluation of the Eectiveness of the Khan
Academy Videos for Teaching Mathematics at
Menzi High School
Naman Barman
SIT Study Abroad
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1
AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE KHAN ACADEMY VIDEOS
FOR TEACHING MATHEMATICS AT MENZI HIGH SCHOOL
Naman Barman
Advisor: Christine McGladdery
Menzi High School
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2
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank Christine McGladdery for serving as my advisor for this project.
Your input and feedback has been extremely helpful throughout this process. I would also like to
thank Nkateko Chauke and Mrs. Makhaye for getting me access into Menzi High School and
making sure I was safe and comfortable. To Mrs. Ndwalane and her students, thank you for
allowing me to teach Maths in your class. It has been a truly incredible learning experience.
3
Abstract
The goal of this practicum is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos as
a tool for teaching Maths in a low-resourced school. The Khan Academy is a nonprofit
organization based in California whose mission is to produce engaging videos for students to
learn Maths, science, and other subjects. The Khan Academy videos have garnered more than
350 million views on YouTube and have thus proven to be a valuable learning tool for many
students. This project analyzes the effectiveness of these videos for teaching Maths to Grade 9
students at Menzi High School, a low-resourced school in the Umlazi township of Durban.
For three weeks, students watched and learned Maths from the Khan Academy videos,
which were displayed on a projector in the classroom. The videos chosen complemented their
usual lessons in Maths and matched the school's educational curriculum, along with the South
African education curriculum, so that students fulfilled the school's requirements. In the end,
students were assessed with a short quiz after watching these videos to determine the
effectiveness of these videos in teaching Maths. Student input on the Khan Academy videos was
also taken by having students fill out a questionnaire.
The results indicate that the Khan Academy videos were effective for teaching simpler
Maths concepts to students, but were not as effective for teaching more difficult Maths concepts.
The results also convey that many students have a weak foundation in Maths, which might be
influencing their ability to understand high level Maths concepts. Lastly, the results show that
although students believed that the Khan Academy videos have certain flaws, they also believed
that the videos provided a valuable learning experience for them.
4
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................5
Methodologies ....................................................................................................................7
Participants and Setup ............................................................................................7
Case studies ….........................................................................................................10
Limitations of case studies ......................................................................................11
Questionnaire …......................................................................................................13
Findings and Analysis ......................................................................................................14
Overview of South Africa's education system ….....................................................14
Overview of Menzi High School …..........................................................................15
Khan Academy Video Case Study…………………................................................16
Basic Arithmetic Case Study…………………………………................………...19
Student Input from Questionnaire…………………………………………….…..21
Literature Review……………………………………………………….........…………23
Recommendations for Further Study………………………………….………………26
Conclusion…………………………………………………………….……………....…28
References…………………………………………………………………….…………29
Appendices………………………………………………………………………………30
Appendix A: Student Quizzes…...………………………………………………...30
Appendix B: Daily Log…..……….........................................................................31
Appendix C: SIT Study Abroad Statement on Ethics..............................................33
Appendix D: ISP Application for Review of Research with Human Subjects.…....35
5
Introduction
Sir Kenneth Robinson is right: “Education goes deep with people, like religion and
money.” Robinson is an international leader in the field of education who came out with a
popular TED talk on education systems worldwide (Robinson, 2007). In his talk, he argues that
education is a fundamental part of human nature – and that education should feed peoples' spirits
and passions. The importance of education is even seen in the Ottawa Charter for Health
Promotion (1986), which states that education is a “fundamental condition and resource for
health.” In this manner, receiving a strong education is crucial not only for getting a diploma and
job, but is also arguably a strong factor in determining one's health and quality of life.
Although education serves such an important role in our society, the South African
educational system is regarded by many as one of South Africa's biggest failures. John Daniel
(Feb. 2013) described education as “a national disaster,” and the Africa Institute of South Africa
argues that education “remains largely in a poor state of affairs” (Modisaotsile, 2012). Thus,
because education is currently in such a broken condition, I became eager to try something
innovative – to use short, engaging videos to teach students. The videos I would use are
produced by a nonprofit organization called the Khan Academy, whose mission is to provide a
world-class education in Maths, science, history, economics, and many other subjects. These
videos are available online at
www.khanacademy.org and are free for anyone to watch.
The Khan Academy project began in 2005 as an accident, when Sal Khan (the founder of
the Khan Academy) uploaded a couple of videos onto YouTube to help his cousin learn about
Maths. Other people around the world started watching his videos as well, and soon, Khan's
videos were the first set of educational videos that were going viral on YouTube. Now, Khan and
6
his team have made it their mission to educate others through video, and his organization (the
Khan Academy) has gradually gained immense popularity worldwide. Its YouTube channel has
more than 350 million views, and the Khan Academy videos have also been successfully
implemented in many high-resourced schools in the United States as a tool for teaching students
(Khan, 2012).
With such a powerful tool in hand and significant educational problems in South Africa, I
wanted to determine whether the Khan Academy videos could provide a rigorous learning
experience for students even in a low-resourced, urban school in South Africa. For this reason, I
decided to partner with a Grade 9 Maths teacher at Menzi High School in the region of Umlazi
township, south of Durban, to use the Khan Academy videos to complement the teaching of
Maths. The Umlazi township was established as a residential area for Black South Africans under
the apartheid system. The school is low-resourced in terms of facilities and teachers. The average
class size is 70 students, and all the students are Black, with most of them coming from low-
income families. My hypothesis is that the Khan Academy videos can be an effective tool for
teaching mathematics even in a low-resourced school like Menzi High School, and my project
will test the validity of this hypothesis.
Ultimately, this project is relevant because it attempts to play a small role in solving some
problems within the educational system in South Africa. Three weeks is clearly not enough time
to determine whether the Khan Academy videos are an effective solution, but it will hopefully
give some insight into the successes and failures of using these videos as a tool for teaching.
Future studies can then be conducted to determine the validity of this model of education.
7
Methodology
Participants and Setup
208 Grade 9 students (ages 13-15) from Menzi High School in Umlazi participated in
watching the Khan Academy videos to learn Maths. All students also took assessment quizzes
over a three week period. The Khan Academy videos were displayed on a projector in the
school's computer lab using the school's projector, a laptop, and speakers. Because the computer
lab was shared with other teachers, students were not shown the videos every day. During the
days when the computer lab was not available, students practiced Maths problems in their usual
classroom. The following videos were shown to the students during the three weeks. These
particular videos were chosen since they matched the requirements of the Grade 9 Maths South
African educational curriculum (and were also requested by the Maths teacher).
Title of Khan Academy
Video
Concept Covered (from S.A. Grade 9
Maths Curriculum)
Length of Video
Language and notation of basic
geometry
9.3.1 Recognizes, visualizes, and names
geometric figures and solids
12:57 (12 minutes,
57 seconds)
Lines, line segments, and rays 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
3:37
Language and notation of the
circle
9.3.1 Recognizes, visualizes, and names
geometric figures and solids
11:11
Angle basics 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
6:48
Complementary and
supplementary angles
9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
8:30
Angles at the intersection of
two lines
9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
7:18
Angles formed by parallel 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of 7:06
8
lines and transversals properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
Triangle example 1 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
6:02
Triangle example 2 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
4:54
Triangle example 3 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
5:41
Equilateral and isosceles
example problems
9.3.1 Recognizes, visualizes, and names
geometric figures and solids
6:26
Introduction to angles (old) 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
9:56
Angles (part 2) 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
9:05
Angles (part 3) 9.3.2 Describe interrelationships of
properties of geometric solids (straight
line geometry)
9:48
Simple equations 9.3.3 Introduction to Equations 11:05
Linear equations 4 9.3.3 Introduction to Equations 7:39
Slope 9.3.3 Introduction to Equations 8:28
Taking percentages 9.3.3 Introduction to Equations 9:55
The Khan Academy videos are designed to be watched online at
www.khanacademy.org.
However, since Internet was not easily accessible at this school, these videos had to be
downloaded offline beforehand. Videos were downloaded from a web site titled “Khan Academy
on a Stick” (khan.mujica.org), which supports compact server solutions to play the Khan
Academy videos offline. The Khan Academy on a Stick web site is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, so the offline videos
9
can be used for anything except commercial purposes. All of the Khan Academy videos were
downloaded and neatly stored on a 16 GB hard drive.
The Khan Academy videos were initially set up in the Maths classroom itself. The
classroom had an outlet for plugging in the projector, and the school had a portable white board
that could be used to display the video from the projector. However, the Maths classroom had
many windows which caused too much sunlight to come into the classroom, which made it
difficult to watch the Khan Academy videos. We attempted to temporarily cover the windows
with black plastic paper, but because there were so many windows, this became a challenging
task. The only classroom in the school which had very few windows was the computer lab, and
thus, we decided to display the videos in that room. The computer lab was smaller than most
classrooms with only about twenty chairs, so the majority of students had to stand while
watching the videos.
Nonetheless, once this arrangement was figured out, setting up the videos became easy.
The projector was plugged in to the outlet and connected to my laptop, which had all the Khan
Academy videos compactly stored in a 16 GB hard drive. There were four windows in the
computer room, but these were easily blacked-out by using small exercise books.
In this manner, students watched videos over the course of three weeks to complement
their usual learning in the classroom. The videos did not replace teacher instruction; they simply
served as an extra tool for teaching. In fact, the concepts covered in the videos would often have
to be explained many times again in order for them to be truly internalized.
10
Case studies
To determine the effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos in teaching Maths, a case
study was conducted. Students were shown one Khan Academy video on a topic they had never
been taught in class, and immediately after watching the video once, they were given a short
quiz. The quiz had three questions which aimed to test the concepts covered in the video. No
questions were answered by me after the video was shown in order to ensure that my teaching
would not influence the results.
Before watching the video, students were instructed that they would have a quiz on the
video they were about to watch, and that this quiz was being conducted in order to determine the
effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos. Students were informed that their names would not
be published and that confidentiality would be maintained, but the data from their quiz results
would be used as part of the study. Students were also told that they were not allowed to talk to
other students while completing the quiz; however, they were allowed to use a calculator and any
notes they wrote while watching the video.
This case study was conducted twice with two different topics. Of the 208 Grade 9
students, 69 students were in section 9A, 69 students were in section 9B, and 63 students were in
section 9C. Thus, students were chosen by section: the 69 students from section 9A were shown
the video titled “Slope,” and the 63 students from section 9C were shown the video titled
“Taking Percentages.”
While teaching Maths to students during the course of the three week period, I also began
to notice that many students struggled with basic arithmetic. For some, simple addition was still
difficult; for others, multiplying fractions was difficult. Since these were concepts that students
11
were expected to know by Grade 9, these “gaps” in their Maths education were indirectly
influencing their performance in Grade 9 Maths. Thus, to determine where these “gaps” lay for
most students, I gave a short quiz on basic arithmetic to the 69 students in section 9B. This
particular case study did not test anything regarding the Khan Academy videos; it simply aimed
to look for where the major weaknesses lay in the students' Maths education.
Limitations of case studies
These two case studies (the Khan Academy video case study and the basic arithmetic case
study) have many limitations. First, students were not randomly selected; they were simply
chosen by which section they were in. Moreover, the sample has a very limited scope (Grade 9
students in Menzi High School) and so the results of this data can not be extrapolated to the
population of all students in South Africa. The results can only truly speak to the effectiveness
of these videos for Grade 9 students in Menzi High School; the study would have to include
many more students from different schools in order to be extrapolated to a large range and have
more validity.
Second, there are a variety of extraneous factors that may have influenced the results.
For example, the Grade 9 Maths teacher mentioned that students had never been taught the
concepts of “slope” and “taking percentages” before. However, it is possible that students may
have learned these concepts through some other means, which would thereby confound the
results. Another extraneous factor that may have influenced the results is cheating. Although
students were informed that they had to complete this quiz on their own without any help from
others, the quiz was administered in a small classroom where students sat very close to each
12
other (three students per table). Thus, the occasional peeking at someone else's paper and the
occasional whispering could have been going on during the time of the assessment. Future
studies should place students farther from each other during the administration of the quiz in
order to minimize the risk of cheating. Ultimately, there is also small chance that some students
did not understand the instructions since instructions were given in English with an American
accent. However, the school does usually teach Maths in English, so the probability of this being
a major extraneous factor is very small.
The questions within the case studies also have their own flaws. The quiz on the Khan
Academy videos (slope and taking percentages) had only three questions each. Although this
was done to ensure that I was not taking up too much class time to conduct my own study, three
questions is clearly not enough to determine how well a student understood the concept. The
questions were also written by me (the person administrating the quiz, and the person conducting
the research study) and so there is inevitably some researcher bias in how the questions were
written and administered. Nonetheless, despite these flaws and biases, this was the best I could
have done given the circumstances I was in, and I do believe that the results of these case studies
do hold some validity.
Lastly, the case studies do not have a control group to compare to. While I initially tried
to arrange for a control group, the Maths teacher and I agreed that certain students would be
missing out on a unique learning experience and that it would not be fair to these students. Many
of these students were excited to watch the videos, and so we decided to show the videos to all
three sections. However, the results of the case studies can be compared to the students' results
from their last term paper, and I believe that this term paper will serve as a valid baseline for how
13
well these students usually perform on their Maths exams.
Questionnaire
In addition to these case studies, students were also asked to fill out a questionnaire at the
end of the project to gain student feedback regarding the Khan Academy videos. In part one of
the questionnaire, students were presented with five statements and were asked to rate how much
they agree with each statement on a scale of one (strongly agree with statement) to six (strongly
disagree with statement). In part two of the questionnaire, students were asked to answer two
questions: what they liked about the Khan Academy videos, and what they did not like about the
Khan Academy videos. The questions in part two were purposely designed to be more open-
ended than the questions in part one in order to gain students' personal input. Students were
given many examples to make sure that they understood how the questionnaire works.
The questionnaire also has its limitations. It only asks to rate five statements, which is
not going to provide a comprehensive overview of the effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos
in teaching Maths. Moreover, for many students English was not the first language they learned,
so asking them to answer these questions in English may have been a challenging task and might
have limited them from fully expressing their opinion. Nonetheless, the questionnaire does
provide considerable insight into whether students understood the videos despite the language
barrier, whether they gained a valuable learning experience, and how important education is
regarded in their family.
14
Findings and Analysis
Overview of South Africa's education system
The South African government spends a large portion of the federal budget on its
education system. In fact, the government spends more money on education (18.5% of the
federal budget) than on any other area which government provides like health care, defense, and
housing (Modisaotsile, 2012). With so much capital being poured in to the educational system,
how come only 54% of students passed the 2012 National Senior Certificate for Grade 12 Maths
(Motshekga, 2012)?
The latest publication of statistics by the government provides more insight into this
question. The task of educating students largely rests on the shoulders of the government. There
are approximately 12.6 million students in South Africa – of which about 11.8 million attend
public schools. To serve so many students, the government has employed about 390,000
teachers in 24,000 schools, which results in a student-teacher ratio of 29.2 to 1, student-school
ratio of 475 to 1, and teacher-school ratio of 16.3 to 1. Within South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has
the highest percentage of students, teachers, and schools (Education Statistics in South Africa,
2013). While the government can strive to make these ratios smaller, these ratios seem to be
reasonably favorable for student learning on paper, for having 1 teacher for 29 students is a
challenge, but it is not a completely unmanageable task.
However, in reality, it seems that the student-teacher ratio is far larger. At Menzi High
School, there was an average of 70 students per teacher. When I asked the Head of the Maths
Department whether this was unique to Menzi, she expressed that overcrowding is present in
almost every school in Durban: “overcrowding is the norm, not the exception.” Thus, whether
15
the statistics published by the government match the reality of the situations in these schools is
questionable, and makes one wonder where the money allocated for education actually ends up
going.
Overview of Menzi High School
Menzi High School is classified as a “disadvantaged” school because it is given few
resources by the government. There were no Maths textbooks provided for the Grade 9 students;
they were only provided a notebook in which they could write down notes and homework
problems. This made it difficult for students to learn and read at home, and students would often
rely on class notes for learning their Maths concepts. Each classroom had a chalkboard and
tables for students to sit at, but other than that, the resources within the classroom were limited
(little electricity, no fan, no computers). The school had toilets, but toilet paper and soap was not
provided by the school; students were expected to bring their own toilet paper and soap. Lastly,
the school did not have a cafeteria. Local vendors would come and sell food during break time,
but the majority of the food was unhealthy (hot dogs, cakes, chips, lollipops, fat cooks).
Nevertheless, fruit was sold as well, which was a healthy snack for students to eat. These foods
were cheap (2-5 rand) which made it affordable for students to buy.
Despite this term “disadvantaged,” the school had many advantages which I greatly
admired. Every morning, the school would come together to sing a prayer or two, and the school
would resonate with the sounds of students and teachers singing together. The school had a
strong sense of community in that students could talk to many of their teachers about their
personal problems. Students would respectfully greet their teachers, and teachers would greet
their students. Many teachers worked tirelessly throughout the day (often teaching five periods
16
per day) and made it a point to go to class unless there was a meeting. However, there were
many times when teachers were unable to attend class for some reason, and in that case students
would just sit in class and wait for the time to pass. The principal was strict with his teachers
and students, thus making it harder for teachers and students to fall behind. Overall, one of the
biggest strengths of the school was that it provided a safe space for students to interact with one
another, which was much safer than being on the streets.
Khan Academy Video Case Study
To determine the effectiveness of just the Khan Academy videos themselves in teaching
Maths (without any extra teacher instruction from me or the Maths teacher), a case study was
done in which the video on “slope” and “taking percentages” was shown and a quiz was given
immediately after. This quiz had 3 questions (see Appendix 1 for specific quiz questions). Thus,
a score of 3 would represent a perfect score; a score of 2 would be substantial; a score of 1 would
be moderate; and a score of 0 would indicate that student did not understand how to calculate of
slope at all. Student performance on the slope video can be seen in the graph and table below.
Mean
2.36
Median
3
Mode
3
Standard
Deviation
1.12
17
From these results, it is evident that the majority of students understood how to calculate
the slope. 49 out of 69 students answered all three questions correctly, and both the median and
mode are 3 out of 3. At the same time, some students did not understand the concept of slope at
all (11 out of 69 students).
The case study was repeated again with a different group of students and a different
video. The video on “taking percentages” was shown this time, and student performance can be
seen in the graph and table below. This quiz also had 3 questions (see Appendix 1 for specific
quiz questions), and so the scores
would represent the same level of
proficiency as the last quiz.
Mean
1.1
Median
1
Mode
0
Standard
Deviation
1.01
In this study, students did not perform as well. The mode of the study is 0, and the largest
portion of students (23 out of 63 students) scored a 0 out of 3. Very few students (only 6 out of
69 students) scored 3 out of 3.
18
The two case studies convey quite contrasting results, for students performed much better
on the slope quiz than on the percentages quiz. This discrepancy can most likely be attributed to
the level of difficulty of each video. Calculating slope is arguably an easier concept for most
people than taking percentages. Since the videos were only shown once, understanding how to
take percentages from just one view of the video was not easy for most students. Thus, the
results indicate that showing a Khan Academy video once is effective in teaching a simpler
Maths concept, but is not as effective for teaching harder Maths concepts. It is important to note
that the students had not been taught the concepts of slope or taking percentages before, which is
why these videos were chosen. Future studies should test whether showing the Khan Academy
video more than once for harder Maths concepts is more effective. Perhaps the students needed
to just watch it one more time, or perhaps the concept is simply too difficult for students to
understand by watching a video.
A baseline that can be used to compare these case study results is the student scores from
their Maths term one paper. This term paper was administered by the KwaZulu-Natal
Department of Education to Grade 9 students at Menzi High School in March 2013. This term
paper counts toward students' Maths grades, and thus serves a fairly good indicator for how these
students have performed without having the Khan Academy videos as a learning tool. Many
students also probably studied for this term paper (unlike the case study quizzes) and so their
scores will most likely reflect the peak of their knowledge. The following table and graph
display how well students performed.
19
Mean 44.5
Median 48
Standard Deviation 17.1
When analyzing this data, it is interesting to note that the qualification for passing is
having a score above 30%. Through this lens, the results seem positive since 75% of the
students (52 out of 69 students) did pass. However, the standard for passing has been placed
fairly low, and makes one question whether these students really know enough Grade 9 Maths to
move on to Grade 10 Maths. Does knowing 30% of the material in Grade 9 prepare someone for
learning Grade 10 Maths? During a discussion with the Maths Head of Department teacher, she
argued that this standard is too low (Makhaye, 2013). She mentioned that the standard for
passing used to be 40% about five years ago, but recently it has been decreased to 30%. This
may have been done to increase the pass rate without actually having to increase the quality of
education. She believed that this standard is too low and 30% should not be qualified as passing.
In the end, the reality is that only 10 out of the 69 students knew more than 60% of the material,
which indicates that there is definitely a need for improvement. When comparing the results of
the Khan Academy case studies to the results of the Grade 9 term paper, it seems evident that the
Khan Academy videos might be an effective learning tool, especially in helping students
understand the simpler Maths concepts.
20
Basic Arithmetic Case Study
Lastly, a case study was conducted to test students' performance on basic arithmetic
questions. These are simpler questions that students should have learned in primary school
(according to the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9); they include questions on
basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages, and decimals. For
this quiz (see Appendix 1 for specific quiz questions), students were not allowed to use a
calculator, talk to each other, or use any notes.
The results on this quiz were high: students averaged a 9.22 out of 11 questions, and the
mode was 10 out of 11 questions. However, what is interesting is to analyze which questions
were the most difficult for students, and the results indicate that question 6 and question 9 were
challenging. Question 6 asked “what is 9/2 divided by 3/2” and only 59.2% of students
answered this correctly; question 9 asked “what is 20% of 50” and only 52.1% of students
answered this correctly. Question 6 tests the concept of dividing fractions, and having this “gap”
of not knowing how to divide fractions can be detrimental to one's future Maths education;
question 9 presents a simple percent problem, but again, many students struggled with this. This
can partly explain why students did not perform well on the “taking percentages” quiz, which
had questions on taking percentages in equations. And if a student does not even know how to
take a percentage, it is difficult to expect him or her to know how to use percentages in
equations.
This was one of the biggest complaints presented by one of the Maths teachers I had a
discussion with at school one day – that Maths teachers are expected to teach high-level concepts
to students who have a weak foundation in Maths. And once the gaps begin to accumulate, it
21
becomes even more difficult to learn Maths. For this reason, he argued that most students are
scared of Maths, and as a whole, the school usually performs lower in Maths than on other
subjects in the national exams (Ndwalane, 2013).
This weak foundation was most clearly obvious to me when I noticed that almost all
students use their calculator to calculate very simple problems (like “5 minus 2” or “4 times 3”).
The issue is that most students do know how to do these simple problems in their heads;
however, they almost always choose to input these problems into their calculators. This
dependency on their calculators for simple problems is another indicator of the weak Maths
foundations many students have, which thereby makes it difficult to eventually learn harder
Maths concepts.
Student Input from Questionnaire
Students' input on the Khan Academy videos as a learning tool was gained by having all
208 Grade 9 students fill out a questionnaire at the end of the program. The results from part one
of the questionnaire can be seen in the table below. The rankings of the statements were from 1
to 6, with a rank of 1 indicating strongly agree and a rank of 6 indicating strongly disagree.
Statement Average Rank
(from 1 to 6)
1. I am able to understand Sal Khan's language (English).
1.5
2. I am able to understand Sal Khan's accent.
2.1
3. I believe that Sal Khan is talented at taking difficult concepts and
explaining them in a simple manner.
1.9
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4. I pay more attention watchi
ng videos by Khan Academy than listening to
my teacher teach us in class.
2.5
5. Education is very important in my family.
1.4
The results from the first two statements show that the language barrier was not a
significant problem for most students: most students understood English (average rank of 1.5)
and Sal's American accent (average rank of 2.1) very well. Once this barrier is eliminated, the
ultimate question to ask is whether students find Sal Khan to be an engaging teacher (question 3)
and are able to pay more attention by watching his videos (question 4). The results from these
statements indicate that the majority of students did believe that the Khan Academy videos are an
effective tool for learning Maths. The last statement on the importance of education conveys that
many students have a desire to learn, and they regard education to be important in their families.
Thus, students are willing to learn; it is just that sometimes they are not given the right resources
and opportunities for performing well.
In the second part of the questionnaire, students were asked to write about what they liked
about the Khan Academy videos, and what they did not like. These questions were purposely
left open-ended so that students could write their personal opinions. Each response was read,
and the top three responses for both questions can be seen in the table below.
Top 3 Likes Top 3 Dislikes
1. Explains difficult concepts really well
(written by 34% of students)
1. Sal Khan talks too quickly (written by
37% of students)
2. Made me understand Maths (written by
18% of students)
2. It was hard to hear the videos (written
by 19% of students)
3. Enjoyed listening to his voice and accent
(written by 16% of students)
3. There was nothing I did not like about
the videos (written by 18% of students)
23
The responses for the top three likes reinforce the results found from part one of the
questionnaire: many students believed Sal Khan explains difficult concepts well (34%), helps
people understand Maths (18%), and has a pleasant voice and accent (16%). However, the
responses for the top three dislikes provide some interesting results which were not found from
part one. The number one dislike was that Khan talks too quickly (37%), which was felt by a
significant portion of students. This is one of the disadvantages of playing the Khan Academy
videos on a projector, since everyone must watch the video together, and so students can not
pause, rewind, or fast forward the videos unless they ask the teacher to do so. A future study
could have students watch the videos separately on the computers so that they have the ability to
control the pace of the video, and then test if this problem of Khan speaking too quickly still
exists.
The second major dislike was that it was hard to hear the videos (19%). It is true that
some students would often chat during the videos even though I would attempt to keep them
quiet. Since the class sizes are so large, it is difficult to keep every student quiet. As a result, the
occasional chatting in the classroom did indeed make it harder to hear the videos. One solution
would be to use better speakers, or simply enforce a stricter policy of remaining quiet in the
classroom.
The third major dislike was that there was nothing to not like. At first, I was going to not
include this as a valid response to this question; however, the fact that so many students (18%)
wrote this statement made me feel that it was important to include this answer. Whether these
students were simply avoiding answering the question or truly felt that the Khan Academy videos
24
were an excellent learning tool is clearly up to interpretation.
Literature Review
Khan, Salman. The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined. 12 Oct. 2012.
The One World Schoolhouse is a book written by the founder of the Khan Academy, Mr.
Sal Khan, who outlines his vision for the future of education. Khan argues that the most
effective form of education is an “on-demand, personalized education” where students can watch
videos and do exercises at their own pace. This will reduce the number of “gaps” in students'
education since students can go back and learn concepts if they need to and also reinforce
difficult concepts by watching the videos more than once and doing more practice problems. Sal
also argues why the Khan Academy videos are an effective tool. First, he notes that the average
attention span of most people is about ten minutes. During these ten minutes, most people are
fully tuned in, but after that time their focus begins to gradually diminish. Since the Khan
Academy videos are on average about ten minutes in length, the amount of knowledge absorbed
by people during this time is arguably higher than the amount of knowledge absorbed during
hour-long lectures.
Second, and most importantly, Sal has a unique teaching style that seems to resonate with
many people. Sal points out right away: “I teach the way I wish I was taught. The lectures are
coming from me, an actual human being who is fascinated by the world around him.” Perhaps it
is for this reason that his YouTube channel has over 350 million views and is the most-watched
educational library on the Internet. This book relates to this study since the Khan Academy
videos were used as an educational tool, and this book provides evidence as to why these videos
25
are an effective solution. The book also outlines the potential of the future of education systems
worldwide, which thus makes it valuable for future studies that wish to experiment with new
ideas like an “on-demand, personalized education.”
Education Statistics in South Africa. Department of Basic Education. Mar. 2013.
This document provides important statistics regarding the South African educational
system. Almost all children attend primary school now (98% of South African children attend
school), and the task of educating these students rests largely on the shoulders of the government.
There are approximately 12.6 million students in South Africa – of which about 11.8 million
attend public schools. To serve so many students, the government has employed about 390,000
teachers in 24,000 schools, which results in a student-teacher ratio of 29.2 to 1, student-school
ratio of 475 to 1, and teacher-school ratio of 16.3 to 1. Within South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has
the highest percentage of students, teachers, and schools. When carrying out this study, these
statistics were helpful in comparing Menzi High School to other schools in South Africa.
Modisaotsile, Brenda M. The Failing Standard of Basic Education in South Africa. Africa
Institute of South Africa. Mar. 2012.
This document describes the failures within South Africa's education system.
Modisaotsile cites studies which show that 20% of teachers in South Africa are absent on
Mondays and Fridays, that students often repeat courses due to substance abuse, and that low
levels of literacy and numeracy among students still exist today. Modisaotsile also suggests
many policy recommendations. For example, drug awareness campaigns and sex education
26
should be part of the formal curriculum, teachers should receive better training and be given
more incentives, and many more. Ultimately, this document is relevant to this study since it
highlights the failures within the education system, and how the Khan Academy videos might be
one of many solutions that is needed to make the education system have more successes.
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. World Health Organization. 21 Nov. 1986.
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is a highly respected document in the field of
health care. It is an international agreement signed at the First International Conference on
Health Promotion in 1986, which states the basic requirements and necessities needed for nations
to have effective health care. What is particularly interesting is that education is considered a
“fundamental condition and resource for health.” In this manner, this document reinforces the
importance of education in our society. While many people believe that education is necessary
to obtain a job in the future, this document argues that education goes far beyond that; it argues
that education is vital for experiencing a healthy living and a greater quality of life. Education is
a truly important aspect of humanity, and it is essential to remember this vision when carrying
out research projects in the field of education.
Recommendations for Further Study
Future studies looking to analyze the effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos for
teaching can do a variety of things to hold more validity and reliability. The study can be done
with a larger sample size and with students from different schools who are randomly selected to
participate in the study, for this would create a sample which could then accurately reflect its
27
population. If the school has access to a computer lab, then the study could have each student
assigned to one computer where he or she can watch the videos individually, and then evaluate
whether this solves the problem of the videos being too fast and hard to hear. In addition, if the
school also has access to Internet, then the study could have students do the Khan Academy
exercises online (in addition to watching the videos), which reinforce the material learned in the
videos. Streaming videos online would use many megabytes per second, but completing
exercises would not require many megabytes, and would thus may be an economically
reasonable proposition.
Regardless of access to computers and Internet, the study should also design the quiz to
have more questions and be written by a third party who has not seen the Khan Academy videos
(to minimize researcher bias). The case study should also be repeated as many times as possible
in order to test the reliability of the Khan Academy videos for teaching Maths. Lastly, it would
be interesting to conduct this study at a primary school to determine if the Khan Academy videos
are also effective for younger students. Since many students come to high school with a weak
foundations in Maths and are unable to do basic arithmetic without a calculator, finding a
reasonable solution for the lower grades would be extremely beneficial for the South African
education system.
Students interested in conducting a future study at Menzi High School should work with
Ms. Nkateko Chauke, the English teacher at Menzi High School. She is extremely proactive and
helpful in making sure students get placed in the class they want to teach. She will also ensure
that the school is a safe and comfortable environment to work in, and is thus a truly incredible
resource to have during one's stay at Menzi High School.
28
Regarding recommendations for Menzi High School, the school should do its best to
encourage students to not use their calculators for solving simpler Maths problems. The school
might also want to consider having an after-school program which reviews basic arithmetic for
students struggling with this. Lastly, the school should do its best to arrange for textbooks and
give more homework problems to students, so that students can receive more practice. In the
end, though, it is important to note that I was only at this school for three weeks, so my
recommendations should be taken very lightly and with caution.
Conclusion
The goal of this practicum was to determine the effectiveness of the Khan Academy
videos for teaching Maths in a low-resourced high school. From using a few simple
technological tools (a projector, a laptop, and speakers), the Khan Academy videos were
elegantly displayed during class time for Grade 9 students to watch and learn Maths from for
three weeks. The videos complemented the usual lessons given by the Grade 9 Maths teacher
and served as an additional learning resource for students.
This preliminary study on the effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos conveys many
interesting results. The videos were effective for teaching simpler Maths concepts to students,
but were not as effective for teaching harder concepts. This study only showed the video once to
these students though, so perhaps the videos actually can be more effective if shown more than
once or are presented with additional resources. Overall, students rated the Khan Academy
29
videos quite highly and claimed that they pay more attention watching videos by Khan Academy
than listening to a teacher teach in class.
While this is only a short preliminary study, the results suggest that the Khan Academy
videos do have a potential place in the South African education system. With a few adjustments,
the Khan Academy videos can serve as an additional tool for providing a valuable learning
experience for students. In the end, education should feed peoples' spirits and passions
(Robinson, 2007) – for education truly is a “fundamental condition and resource for health”
(Ottawa Charter, 1986) and a means for living a greater quality of life.
References
Daniel, John. Lecture. SIT lecture on the State of the Nation. 4 Feb. 2013.
Education Statistics in South Africa. Department of Basic Education. Mar. 2013.
Grade 9 Maths Education Curriculum. Print. 9 Apr. 2013.
Grade 9 Maths First Term Paper. Department of Education. Print. Mar. 2013.
Khan Academy on a Stick. Apr. 2012. khan.mujica.org
Khan, Salman. The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined. 12 Oct. 2012.
Makhaye, Nonku. Head of the Maths Department at Menzi High School. Discussion on the low
standard for passing high school. 20 Apr. 2013.
Modisaotsile, Brenda M. The Failing Standard of Basic Education in South Africa. Africa
Institute of South Africa. Mar. 2012.
Motshekga, Angie. 2012 National Senior Certificate Grade 12 Examination Results. Department
30
of Education. Mar. 2012. http://www.info.gov.za/speech/DynamicAction?
pageid=461&tid=95373
Ndwalane, M. Maths teacher at Menzi High School. Discussion on teaching high-level Maths
concepts to students with weak foundation in Maths. 20 Apr. 2013.
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. 21 Nov. 1986.
Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9. Department of Education.
http://education.pwv.gov.za
Robinson, Kenneth. Do Schools Kill Creativity? TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. 7 Jan. 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
Appendix A: Student Quizzes
Quiz on Slope
1. Calculate the slope between the points (2,4) and (3,8).
2. Calculate the slope between the points (5,7) and (4,1).
3. Calculate the slope between the points (3,3) and (5,5).
Quiz on Taking Percentages
1. What is 20% of 50?
2. What is 0.6% of 40?
3. 10 is 25% of what number?
Quiz on Basic Arithmetic
1. 13 + 29 =
2. 47 – 12 =
31
3. 9 x 5 =
4. 45 ÷ 9 =
5. 1/3 x 5/9 =
6. 9/2 ÷ 3/2 =
7. 0.2 x 60 =
8. 0.8 ÷ 4 =
9. 20% of 50 =
10. 18 x 41 =
11. 256 ÷ 8 =
Appendix B: Daily Logs
Day 1
• Presented my idea to Head of Maths Department, Maths teachers, and principal
• Project was approved
• Figured out logistical issues (what Grade to teach, how many classes per day, etc)
• Ate a delicious fat cook
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Day 2
• First attempt to show Khan Academy video
• Showed it in usual Maths classroom but unable to see the video since classroom was too
bright and hard to see black background of Khan Academy video
• Tried to black out the classroom with black paper but that was still not very effective
• I felt bad that a whole period was wasted, but the teacher was not worried at all. She was
very supportive. I told her I would try to figure something out.
• I walked around the school and looked for ideas about what I could do
• Realized that computer lab has only four windows and is thus a darker room (but smaller)
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Day 3
• Tried showing video in computer lab and it was much more successful
• Video quality was great but audio was sometimes hard to hear since students were often
chatty during the videos
32
• Showed videos to Grade 9 – they were laughing and felt challenged
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Days 4, 5, 6
• Process was getting smoother
• Realized that videos were not enough though; I still had to review what happened in the
videos and give them more practice problems
• Thus, videos served as a preliminary tool for teaching the Maths concept, which I then
explained further with practice problems
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.) each day → 21 hours total
Day 7
• Maths teacher lets me take over class and stops showing up. She spends her time grading
papers and catching up on other work
• By now students are very familiar with me and are more excited to watch the Khan
videos
• Maths is still confusing and scary for them, but it's getting better
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Days 8, 9, 10
• Other teachers start using computer lab as well, so I do not always get a chance to show
videos
• Thus, I begin teaching Maths by hand using games. Student get extremely excited and
make lots of noise as we play games. I have to make sure our class does not get too noisy
so that other classes do not get disturbed.
• Playing games is effective in getting in more practice while still having fun
• I realize that students are dependent on their calculators. Even to solve a problem like “4
minus 2,” they use their calculators. They love their calculator too much, and it's
harming them from solving problems quickly and efficiently. Something is going wrong
at basic primary level for teaching Maths.
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.) → 21 hours total
Days 11, 12
• Showed Khan Academy videos to Grade 10 classes since teacher was absent.
• Still showed videos to Grade 9 students.
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.) → 14 hours total
Day 13
• Had discussion with Head of Maths Department (Makhaye) about the low pass rate in
South Africa. Pass rate used to be 40%, but recently it has moved down to 30%.
Makhaye felt that this is an extremely low standard for passing, and is scared that people
who only know 30% of their subject will be in charge of building bridges and computers
33
and working in the government. She believes pass rate should be much higher.
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Day 14
• Gave the offline Khan Academy videos to Teko (English teacher) so that students who
want to continue watching the videos can do so on her laptop
• Showed the last set of Khan Academy videos
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Day 15
• Last day at school
• Said my goodbyes and thank you to the principal, teachers, and students
• Took pictures of school and students
• Time: 7 hours (7:15 A.M – 2:15 P.M.)
Total: 105 hours
34
Appendix C: SIT Study Abroad Statement on Ethics
(Adapted from the American Anthropological Association)
This document must be read, signed, and submitted to the AD prior to ethics review meeting.
In the course of field study, complex relationships, misunderstandings, conflicts, and the need to
make choices among apparently incompatible values are constantly generated. The fundamental
responsibility of students is to anticipate such difficulties to the best of their ability and to resolve
them in ways that are compatible with the principles stated here. If a student feels such resolution
is impossible, or is unsure how to proceed, s/he should consult as immediately as possible with
the Project Advisor and/or AD and discontinue the field study until some resolution has been
achieved. Failure to consult in cases which, in the opinion of the AD and Project Advisor, could
clearly have been anticipated, can result in disciplinary action as delineated in the “failure to
comply” section of this document. Students must respect, protect, and promote the rights and the
welfare of all those affected by their work. The following general principles and guidelines are
fundamental to ethical field study:
I. Responsibility to people whose lives and cultures are studied
Students' first responsibility is to those whose lives and cultures they study. Should conflicts of
interest arise, the interests of these people take precedence over other considerations, including
the success of the Independent Study Project (ISP) itself, for if the ISP has negative
repercussions for any members of the target culture, the project can hardly be called a success.
Students must do everything in their power to protect the dignity and privacy of the people with
whom they conduct field study.
The rights, interests, safety, and sensitivities of those who entrust information to students must be
safeguarded. The right of those providing information to students either to remain anonymous or
to receive recognition is to be respected and defended. It is the responsibility of students to make
every effort to determine the preferences of those providing information and to comply with their
wishes. It should be made clear to anyone providing information that despite the students' best
intentions and efforts anonymity may be compromised or recognition fail to materialize.
Students should not reveal the identity of groups or persons whose anonymity is protected
through the use of pseudonyms.
Students must be candid from the outset in the communities where they work that they are
students. The aims of their Independent Study Projects should be clearly communicated to those
among whom they work.
Students must acknowledge the help and services they receive. They must recognize their
obligation to reciprocate in appropriate ways.
To the best of their ability, students have an obligation to assess both the positive and negative
consequences of their field study. They should inform individuals and groups likely to be
affected of any possible consequences relevant to them that they anticipate.
Students must take into account and, where relevant and to the best of their ability, make explicit
the extent to which their own personal and cultural values affect their field study.
Students must not represent as their own work, either in speaking or writing, materials or ideas
directly taken from other sources. They must give full credit in speaking or writing to all those
35
who have contributed to their work.
II. Responsibilities to Hosts
Students should be honest and candid in all dealings with their own institutions and with host
institutions. They should ascertain that they will not be required to compromise either their
responsibilities or ethics as a condition of permission to engage in field study. They will return a
copy of their study to the institution sponsoring them and to the community that hosted them at
the discretion of the institution(s) and/or community involved.
III. Failure to comply
When the AD(s) feel that the student has violated this statement of ethics, the student will be
placed on probation.
In the case of egregious violations, students can be subject to immediate dismissal under the
conditions of the SIT STUDY ABROAD dismissal guidelines.
I, Naman Barman, have read the above Statement of Ethics and agree to make every effort to
comply with its provisions.
Date: April 1, 2013
36
Appendix D: ISP Application for Review of Research with Human Subjects
Spring Semester 2013
School for International Training - Study Abroad
South Africa: Community Health, Program
Complete all questions (complete on separate pages where applicable, and staple to this cover
sheet). Submit this document with your ISP proposal and related document to your Academic
Directors.
1. Name: Naman Barman
2. Program: SFH Durban Social Policy and Community Health
3. Student Phone: 0837001337
4. Title of ISP: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Khan Academy Videos for
Teaching Mathematics
5. Site of ISP: Menzi High School
6. Funding Source, if any: 200 rand per day provided by SIT
7. ISP Advisor Name, Title, and Contact Telephone: Christine McGladdery, Biology
Teacher, 079-880-4686
8. Brief description of the purpose of the study. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of the
Khan Academy videos for teaching mathematics in a low-resourced, urban school.
Brief description of procedures relating to human subjects’ participation:
How are participants recruited? And is an inducement offered?
I am partnering with a Maths teacher at Menzi High School to allow students to be part of this
project. The project will not interfere with the school curriculum; instead, it will actually mirror
the school curriculum so that students and teachers do not fall behind. No inducements will be
offered.
What is the age range of the participants?
Students in Grade 9 to Grade 12 (ages 12-18) will be participating. The Grades will be selected
by the Maths teacher so as to minimize disruption and provide the benefit as seen to be
appropriate by the teacher in charge.
What is the gender breakdown of the participants?
Participants are both male and female, and should be roughly evenly distributed.
What are other relevant characteristics of subjects, including (but not limited to) institutional
affiliation if any?
37
Subjects are students at Menzi High School and are mostly from the Umlazi area. Most subjects
speak fluent English and will most likely come from low-resourced areas.
What is the number of participants?
About 50 students will participate in this study.
If there is a cooperative institution, how was their permission obtained?
Principal obtained from principal and Maths teacher.
What will subjects be asked to do, and/or what information will be gathered?
Subjects will be asked to watch the Khan Academy videos on Maths during class, and take tests
on the material presented in the videos to determine the effectiveness of the videos.
If subjects are interviewed, who are the interviewers?
Subjects will not be interviewed. However, they will be asked to fill out a questionnaire at the
end of the program about the Khan Academy videos in order to get their feedback.
In what language(s) will you interview participants? How will interpreters be paid?
Questionnaires will be in English. No payment will be given.
How will the interviewers be trained and paid?
I will be handing out the questionnaires, so no interviewers will be necessary for this project.
Protection of human subjects. Before completing this section, you must read and agree to
comply with both the SIT Study Abroad Statement of Ethics, SIT Human Subjects Policy, and
the program’s additional Human Subject Research Guidelines.
12. Have you read and do you agree to comply with the SIT Study Abroad Statement of
Ethics, SIT Human Subjects Policy, and the Human Subject Research Guidelines in the
SCRHM course and handbook?
Yes.
13. Do subjects risk any stress or harm by participating in this research? If so, why is this
necessary? How will these issues be addressed? What safeguards will minimize the
risks?
Because subjects are minors and are part of an organization with conditions, there is managed
38
risk within the study. Students will be participating in an educational program which could
potentially influence their Grades and future career. Moreover, the school has standards to meet,
and so I must be cognizant of the Maths syllabus, school rules and expectations, and students'
own expectations. Nonetheless, the risk is still quite minimal since I will be cooperating with a
regular Maths teacher who has accustomed to the school's culture. Despite these risks, the study
is expected to benefit the subjects since the benefits of learning Maths through the Khan
Academy videos could potentially outweigh its cost.
Since this is an educational program, student scores will be collected and analyzed, which leads
to the potential risk of compromising student confidentiality. However, student scores will not be
publicized to other students or persons outside the school – they will only be seen me, the Maths
teacher, and other administrators within the school who may need access to these scores.
This project is also going to present a unique approach to teaching, which may come
across as challenging the original Maths teacher's way of teaching. The teacher will be
safeguarded, though, by ensuring that the teacher will not be looked down upon for her
methods of teaching. In fact, I will actually be collaborating with the teacher, so it will
not be a “me” versus “the teacher” scenario; rather, we will work together to teach Maths
to the students.
The principal and the school will also be safeguarded by ensuring that slanderous
comments are not directly made toward them in my final paper and in the classroom
setting. Lastly, anonymity of students, teachers, principal, staff, and the school will be
maintained in my project. Different names will be used for all of these to ensure that the
study poses as minimal risk as possible.
14. How will you explain the research to subjects and obtain their informed consent to
participate? Append your Informed Consent Form.
I will first explain to the subjects that the goal of this project is to determine the
effectiveness of the Khan Academy videos for teaching mathematics to students. I will
then tell the subject that he/she will be asked to watch the Khan Academy Maths videos
during class, and then do short quizzes to determine their learning efficacy. Subjects will
be informed that the scores on these quizzes may be given to the regular Maths teacher,
which may or may not be used to determine their final Grades (depending on the teacher).
I will also tell the subjects that I will be collaborating with the regular Maths teacher, so if
there is any hesitation, they can always go their Maths teacher if they are not comfortable
speaking with me. I will not be seeking parental consent, since I will be working with the
teacher within the normal school curriculum. The teacher and principal are the
professionals in charge of teaching and if they do not believe the proposal is likely to lead
to good educational outcomes they will refuse to allow the project, thus fulfilling their
mandate to parents and the government to always act “in the best interests of the child”.
The study is not of the children per se, it is of the effectiveness and usefulness of Khan
videos as a teaching aid in a low-resourced school.
39
15. If subjects are minors or not competent to provide consent, how will it be obtained?
Although the project involves teaching the curriculum to minors, the minors themselves are not
the subject of the study. The Khan videos are a teaching aid that the math teacher may choose to
use if he thinks it may be effective, thus it is the teacher and principal who need to give consent.
They will be asked to provide written consent for me to show the videos and administer and
Grade the tests. They will also be asked to give consent to have the aggregated Grades used to
determine the effectiveness of the videos.
16. How will subjects be informed that they can refuse to participate in aspects of the study
or may terminate participation whenever they please?
The subjects here are the principal and the math teacher. The normal teaching process is not
something students can opt in or out of.
17. If subjects are students or clients or program partners, how will you protect them from
feeling coerced due to the (if only perceived) power differential?
Because I will be collaborating with a Maths teacher, I will act more like an assistant teacher in
the classroom. Thus, the amount of power I exert will not be much as the teacher. Nonetheless, I
will be cognizant of the space in which I am in, and be sure not to use my “power” to purposely
hurt any individuals. I will do my best to be part of the group and adapt to the culture of the
school so as to minimize the power differential.
18. How might participation in this study benefit subjects?
The study will help subjects learn mathematics for three weeks in an efficient and engaging way.
The student will also make students aware of the Khan Academy's resources, which they can use
in the future if they choose to do so.
19. Will participants receive a summary of results or other educational material?
Each student will receive a summary of their own score and how much progress he or she
has made during the course of the three-week program. Teachers and the principal will
receive a summary of all the student scores, along with a copy of my final ISP project, so
that they can determine the effectiveness of the program for themselves and whether they
wish to continue running a program like this.
How will the following be protected?
a. Privacy (protecting information about participants): Refers to an individual and their
investment in controlling access to information about themselves.) 50 – 100 words
40
Privacy of students, teachers, staff, principal, and all other people involved in the school
will be maintained. I will not ask questions outside the scope of this project (about their
family life, personal life, etc.). I will simply attend school to teach Maths and analyze
student scores. Student scores will be put in the final ISP, but will be strictly put in as
numbers and data without any attachment to students names.
b. Anonymity (protecting names and other unique identifiers of participants): Names
should not be attached to the data, unless subject chooses to be identified. 50 words
Anonymity of students, teachers, staff, principal, and all other people involved in the school will
be maintained. Their names will not be used in the ISP; instead, different names will be used to
protect their privacy. Student scores, however, will be given to the teacher since the teacher will
have to assess students' progress and give Grades to students.
c. Confidentiality (protecting data about participants): How is access to data limited?
Consider how coding will kept separate from information obtained; how data will be
stored and when will it be destroyed; whether data will be used in the future and, if so,
how permission for further use will be obtained? 50 -100 words
Confidentiality of student scores will be rigorously maintained. Student scores will be
collected and analyzed, but will be kept separate from student names. Data of scores will
be stored on research's computer on Excel spreadsheet, but names will be destroyed
immediately after all data is collected. If data needs to be used in the future, I will obtain
permission from the school before doing so. If anyone asks about student scores and
performance, I will not give out that information. I will not tell other students about each
others' scores as well. My goal is to create a positive learning environment where every
student feels that they can improve and be successful.
12. Are there any other details or procedures of the study that should be known by the ISP
Ethics Review Committee, and if so, discuss. 1-1000 words
No.
By signing below I certify that all of the above information (and that attached) is true and correct
to the best of my knowledge, and that I agree to fully comply with all of the program’s ethical
guidelines as noted above and as presented in the program and/or discussed elsewhere in
program materials. I further acknowledge that I will not engage in ISP activities until such a
time that both my ISP proposal as well as my Human Subjects Research application are
successful and I have been notified by my Academic Directors to this effect.
Naman Barman
Student's name (printed)
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Naman Barman
Student’s name (signature)
