For those who have been fielding questions from students doing EDUC 121 here is the gospel from Kathleen Liberty. She made the comment that if students were having trouble locating the information then they should consider choosing a different topic.

The following is copied from an email from Kathleen Liberty:

“The assignment is (partially) about learning to find the information. They must have read the relevant section in their textbook to understand the topic. I would ask them to bring the textbook along or to show you the section if they are having that much trouble with this. The page numbers listed in the topic choices are from the textbook for the course. A Child’s World, tenth edition, Papalia, Olds & Feldman.

Assignment 2

Topic Choices

Single-parent Families

Today (In the USA) more than 1 child in 4 (28%) live with only one parent. From Sentence 3, final paragraph, p. 388. You may also add information from Figure 14-2, page 388.

Television Viewing

“On average, children [in the USA] spend four hours a day in front of a television or computer screen” from: Sentence 2, Paragraph 2, page 397.

Asthma

“About 13% of U.S. children and adolescents have been diagnosed with asthma at some time.” From sentence 2, paragraph 3 page 337.

Participation in Sports

In a nationally representative survey of U.S. 9-13 year olds and their parents, 38.5% reported participation in organised athletics outside of school hours during the previous week” From Sentence 2, final paragraph, p.334 . You may also add the following sentence “77.4 % participated in unorganised physical activity.”

Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy

“15-20%” [of women in USA] admit that they continue to drink during pregnancy.” End of sentence 1, paragraph 2, p. 96. May also include the first part of the sentence.

Directions for Assignment 2.

1. Select one of the set topics (listed above) after reading through the related textbook sections.

2. Source an identical or very comparable New Zealand statistic. (you must SUBMIT a print copy to turn in with your essay). You may use Google to find a source or Index NZ, or the Stuff Archives or other. . DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA statistics. It must meet the following requirements:

A. Published within last 7 years;
B. From reliable internet site; such as www.statistics.govt.nz or or a major city newspaper such as The Christchurch Press; or a book or published article from a reliable source;. The librarians may help you find suitable material.
C. Number format can be compared (e.g., percent to percent)
D. Definitions or basis for statistic are comparable, even if age ranges are a bit different.

3. Write an essay

Introductory Paragraph

Explain the topic and give the statistic from the textbook and why the topic is important. Give the NZ statistic(s). Compare the statistics and describe how similar or different they are. Similar will be less than 5% between the two — if this is the case, give 3 reasons why the statistics from the two different countries are similar. If the difference between the two statistics is more than 5%, then in the essay give 3 reasons why the stats from the 2 countries are different.

Body of Essay

Discuss at least 3 different reasons why the figures are similar OR Discuss at least 3 different reasons why the figures are different (the figures will either be similar OR different, but not both). The reasons should be based on comparisons between NZ and the US that can explain the either the difference or the similarity between the figures from each country. You may cite your textbook and/or other sources to support your reasoning.

Concluding Paragraph

Summarize your points, and discuss implications for NZ.