Cognitive Ability and Breakfast:Collaborating with Parents to Promote Balanced Breakfasts ED Spring 2010 Seminar in Applied Theory and Research II ED Spring 2010 By Tanisha Hanley

Table of Contents  Research Design  Threats to Internal Validity  Threats to External Validity  Pretest and Posttest  Correlation  Proposed Data of Pretest and Posttest  Proposed Data Analysis  References

Research Design  Pre-Experimental Design: One-Group Pretest- Posttest Design.  Single Group: Single group is Pretested (O), exposed to a treatment (X), and Posttested (O).  Symbolic Design: OXO

Threats to Internal Validity  History : Weather conditions, fire drills, announcements, and classroom interruptions e.g. phone ringing. ELL pull out groups etc.  Maturation : Some students have short attention spans; they may skip through questions or not read directions carefully.  Testing/Pretest sensitization: familiarity with questions may affect the validity.  Instrumentation : Questions may be unclear to some students. Students whose math quiz scores were not affected by balanced breakfast consumption may be less likely to change a poor attitude regarding breakfast consumption. Researcher is unaware if parents really provided breakfast on testing dates and/or continued nutritional dialogue at home.  Mortality : Students’ parents can choose to pull their child out from the study. Also a student can move away.

Threats to External Validity  Ecological Validity : Urban students are from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds so they have different personal beliefs.  Pretest Treatment : Familiarity with pretest questions may influence posttest results.  Selection-Treatment Interaction : All chosen students and adults that sign consent forms participate. Participants were not randomly selected.  Multiple Treatment: Participants receive more than one type of intervention all defined as “treatment” to improve their understandings about the breakfast meal.  Experimenter Effects : Some students may be influenced by an established relationship with the researcher which may make her influential upon overall student attitudes.  Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects : Students may respond unnaturally because they are involved in an action research study. The novelty effect may take place and the researcher is unaware if attitude improvements will be long term.

Pretest and Posttest One single group of students will be given 2 surveys to access breakfast attitudes before and after a balanced breakfast intervention. Pretest: 1 Pre survey will be administered to student group without balanced breakfast intervention. Postest: 1 Post survey will be administered to student group after balanced breakfast instruction and parental collaboration have taken place.

Correlation Correlation of student’s acceptance of new knowledge based on prior knowledge about nutrition. Pre Survey Question 1: Breakfast should be eaten every morning. Post Survey Question 11: It is important that I eat a balanced breakfast. With a correlational coefficient of (rxy) =.67, there appears to be a fair positive correlation between students’ attitudes about eating a balanced meal and their prior knowledge that breakfast should be eaten every morning.

Proposed Pre Survey Post Survey Data StudentPre SurveyPost Survey

Proposed Pre Survey Post Survey Data Question Pre Survey Average Post Survey Average

Correlation Correlation of dietary impact on students based on recent parental nutrition education. Parental Survey Question 14: I make better breakfast choices for my child because of the materials (quiz results, pamphlets etc.) sent home. Student Post Survey Question 14: I ate a balanced breakfast today. With a correlational coefficient of (rxy)=.71, there appears to be a fair positive correlation between students’ balanced breakfast consumption and educating parents on the benefits of proper breakfast nutrition.

Proposed Post Survey Data BBI=Balanced Breakfast Intervention

Analysis of Proposed Data Based upon the data there is: a positive effect between prior knowledge about breakfast and the ability to scaffold new information regarding the relevance of a balanced meal. a positive effect between a parent’s willingness to collaborate with schools and educate themselves and the benefits it provides to their child’s nutritional status. the bar graph illustrates that per individual survey question student attitudes regarding breakfast have improved post intervention.

References O’Connor-Petruso, Sharon. A. (2010, February 18). Descriptive & Inferential Stats, Analyses, Threats, & Designs. Presented at an Ed lecture at Brooklyn College.