2. Hypothesis: that the format of a student's portfolio has an effect on their English writing improvement. Hypothesis H o : That there is no significant difference in the improvement in student writing between using a digital portfolio or a paper based traditional portfolio. H A : That there is a significant difference in the improvement in student writing and that the mean improvement for digital portfolios is higher than paper based portfolios.
3. Population: an entire year level in a high school eg year 10 students at WIS Sample: take 2 classes randomly selected (all classes are mixed ability - based on CATs data - at WIS). One class to be assigned to digital portfolio another paper portfolio. Participants
4. Students are assigned to classes on the basis of CATs data so that they are of mixed ability. It can be assumed on this basis that the classes are of similar ability.To determine the ability of the class use the National Standard rubrics to assess student level at the start and end of the year. The mean “value- added” for each class is to be calculated. Instruments
5. Comparison of Two different Approaches – one class will use digital portfolio tools and the other class will use traditional paper based portfolio. Research Plan
6. Students will use the portfolios for the full academic year – this will enable students to get comfortable with the approach and give sufficient time for reflection and feedback in both treatments. Also students should be able to create several pieces of work for their portfolio during this period of time. Execution of Plan
7. For each student a value-added figure needs to be arrived at – the difference between the beginning of year and end of year results. The class mean of these figures needs to be calculated. Using t-test and level of significance of 0.05. Analysis of Data
