Asked by zoie

(a)

Ms. Harris, a math teacher, wants to compare the effectiveness of a new math instructional program.
She tests each student’s math ability and then divides the students into two groups.

One group uses the new instructional program, while the other group uses the standard curriculum.
At the end of the year, the teacher retests all the students and compares the increase in math ability in the two groups.
Part A:

Is this an observational study or an experiment? Why?



How could randomization be used to select the two groups? short answer

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
This is an experiment — the teacher actively assigns students to either the new program or the standard curriculum (an intervention is applied), so treatments are imposed rather than merely observed.

Randomization: after the pretest, assign each student a unique number and use a random method (computer random-number generator, coin flip, drawing names from a hat, or a random-number table) to place each student into the new-program or control group. (Optionally, randomize within strata defined by pretest score to ensure balanced initial ability.)