Mohammed,+Taylor

How does authority affect decision making in children? ** If a teacher stands up in front of a class and gives an opinion, is a child more or less likely to agree with them because they are an authority figure? ** //**Project Plan:**//

**Hypothesis: **
We hypothesize that kids would be less in approaching and making a conversation with the person who’s in authority. Our hypothesis is based on how the kids might act to the commands that they receive from the people who’s in authority. Obeying the commands from the people who’s in authority would make the kids very obeyed for the commands whether in school by the teachers or at the home by the parents. We believe that kids will recognize what’s a good command to obey and what’s not.

**Objective: **
Our main objective is to find whether the kids are effected in making a decision by authority or not. Another objective of this research is to see if there’s a difference, if the kids obey the commands that the parents or the teachers ask for and to see if that would make a change on the children's behavior or not.

**Method: **
Visit several elementary classrooms. Don’t let the children to know that we are observing them because that might ruin our research which that would make big changes. Never command the kids to do anything, we will let the teacher do everything because he/she is the one who would be on authority. Note the numbers of times that the kids obey the commands and note the numbers of kids that they don’t obey the commands. Record the observation for each children who obey the commands and for who doesn’t. Try to visit the same classes but in a different time. We will try to observe the kids from the same ages, so the results would become the same. Last, compare the results between Seoul and Illinois.

**Potential Errors: **
Our exterminates would limited for a small group of kids. Because we need to conduct the research to the kids who act different or has different behaviors than the other kids. The biggest factor that would effect our exterminates is that the mood of the kids. For instance if the kids are in a good mood they would be more likely to obey and listen to the commands that the teacher is asking for, but if they were in a bad mood they would be less likely to obey and listen.
 * Lit Review: **

Taylor Clayton

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/334571/title/The_Probabilistic_Mind There have been some articles written about this topic primarily about households and their effects on children. According to //The Probabilistic Mind// by Laura Sanders mentions the concept of “seeing and believing”. What this talks about is how children will look at things as a probability. This relates to our research topic because it can be based off of what they think others might do and what others have said. Really this article just focuses on how the brain would analyze situations in young people. Sanders uses scientists to help back up her point that children tend to look at the probability standards such as previous experiences rather than what they want. A majority of cases in younger children has to do with how they have not had much experience in the outside world and cannot come up with their own opinions and beliefs on anything.
 * The Probabilistic Mind**

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.ilstu.edu/ehost/detail?sid=5c472780-1f0d-4ef3-8f15-582972cca23f%40sessionmgr15&vid=2&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=44511206 In the article //Creating Collaborative Cultures// by Barbara Kohm and Beverly Nance, they talk about the way different cultures are brought up and how that effects the decisions and thought processes. This article in particular focuses on the other cultures side of things and the kind of environment they are in. It helps our article because it shows how a certain teaching ability or a certain environment can actually influence someone’s decisions. Accordingly, there are underlying measures that also affect the choices made. Kohm and Nance use the example from a school where the teacher could not get enough money to do a simple cookie baking project. The way that the teacher reacted, influenced the way the children did. If the teacher had not stormed out of the office and gotten the hopes up for the children, they might not have been as upset or irrational about it as she was. It is a chain reaction when dealing with choices and reactions. One thing affects the other and so on eventually reaching people that tend to “follow the leader”. Being an authority figure greatly increases the chances of a child choosing something or reacting in the same manner.
 * Creating Collaborative Cultures**

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=ee355a0f-0ce8-4d11-b8be-5caf3de22060%40sessionmgr15&vid=6&hid=12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=ulh&AN=35013889 Thomas Guskey and Eric Anderman’s article, //Students at Bat// discusses the significance of decision making. They use baseball as a median to show the teaching methods and its restrictions on learning ability and decision making. The article really focuses on criticizing the way a teacher teaches and how basically they are the reason younger students are so indecisive. Going off of this idea, we could see how a specific school and teaching community can cause restrictions. One of their main points is that kids can learn to make meaningful decisions in school. This correlates with how an authority figure impacts the way a child decides things. Guskey and Anderman also relate decision making to pressure to do succeed in everything from parents, friends, and teachers. Due to this, they tend to make fewer decisions and think what others want them to think. According to the article, teachers strongly believe that it is the parent’s duty to educate their children on the responsibilities of decision making. In reality, it should be a combined effort. In a nutshell this article discusses decision making with responsibility. The lack of decision making goes with a decrease in responsibility in everything else.
 * Students at Bat**

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=12&sid=ee355a0f-0ce8-4d11-b8be-5caf3de22060%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=ulh&AN=1859025 A broader article, //Problem Solving at Camp//, by Michael Shelton brings in the modeling of adults. This is related to the psychological concept of “monkey see, monkey do”. They also use trial and error but mostly follow what someone older does. The younger children aspire to be like the older people in their lives. Shelton uses camp because it is free time and people tend to influence each other. The children simply observe their camp counselors and basically mimic what they do when they are solving their problems. In relation to our project, this directly shows how little kids will look up to someone of some authority and copy what they do. Children like to believe that whatever an older person does in correct and can never be wrong. From the research collected thus far it can be determined that children base their choices off of what an authority figure does. At the elementary age children do not really have experience and choose to do whatever their authority does.
 * Problem Solving at Camp**

Mohammed Al-mujaljal

**Teacher Authority and Moral Education: **  Most of the children seems to have a bad action or bad decision about deciding how to react on some particular situation. In this article the children has decide to commit an indiscretion-squabbling in the lunch room because their original teacher was away, so they took a decide to ignore the substitute teacher and behave so badly and differently in front of the substitute teacher because that was an opportune chance for them to have fun on the way they like while their original teacher is away. When the substitute teacher begin to question the kids about their strange behavior, some of the kids were daring to candid and defend about their behaviors and no matter whether their behaviors are wrong or right. The other kids were arguing that the squabbling was misinterpreted. When the teacher decide to read a familiar book for the children just trying to make settle down for a bit, the kids has decide to not listen and keep playing around. The strange thing is when the teacher ask the kids a couple of questions, no one has talked all of them were silent because they finally realized that they were wrong. This result has strikes the teacher because the result were deceptive. At the beginning the kids were so sure about their behaviors and they were defending and arguing about what they were doing, and they said it was just disinterested. But later on when they realized that they we were from the first place the decided to be more polite to the substitute teacher and be more undoubtedly to give the right answer. At the end the teacher has tried a way that made the kids be more aware to her command by the authority. The teacher has insist on exercising full authority, the teacher also told the kids that dissenting views would be rejected. So she made an effort to explain the wrongness of the behavior, and she was very clear that the children’s task is to obey her authority. **Not Making Foolish Decisions: ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> In this article children seem to be not sure about making their own decisions, and some of their decisions become in negative ways. This article briefly explain how some children sometimes take or decide their decisions wrongly which that become in a negative way which that not good for our children. So this article has create a good idea to train the children and teaching them how to not make a foolish decisions. That’s would obviously help the children to learn how to choose the right decision for them selves. There was no courses or classes that could help on making-decisions, it was never mentioned in any of the classes that I have been to. But now there’s something called a school training to help the children in making the right denison. The subject used to attended as a child classes for training to help in making the right decision. There was no suggestion that come to their own decisions about question on faith, or plan for the most succeed future, improvement on the belief and the attitudes. Church members are told what good to do and what’s not good to do, what’s the right thinking and what kind of thinking is in error or not good. Which that very helpful and useful for the children to help them in making their right decision. The church does not have any classes in making decisions that demonstrate and clarify how to not make a foolish decision. The only place that could teach the children in making their decisions is Home. But this process seems to be ignored in homes, specially from the parent’s. The parent's most likely to ignore this training, because most of the parent’s thinks that they’re good and perfect at teaching their children in making the right decision. So they just ignore this process because they also think that this process is only redundant. Human traditionally tell their children what they feel is right for them to know and what’s not good for them. Some particularly parent’s they don’t command their children to make whatever they ask for, they’re most likely seems to let their their children to choose whatever they prefer. Most of the parent’s they let their children to pick whatever they like, because they love their children so they believe in that children are the ones who should always make their plans for their future and the right decision by their selves. But the problem is that most of the parent’s don’t learn how to make decisions that are not foolish. Which is that why every parent’s should attend the training course to learn how to make a decision that are not foolish. __** Data: **__ Taylor Clayton
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/teacher-authority-and-moral-education__] **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.homeeducator.com/familytimes/articles/12-3article9.htm__] **

Boys: 10 Girls: 9 Observed **3** times Girls listened more than boys 57 total (**19*3=57**) 48/57 listened, 9/57 didn’t 7/10 boys listened, 8/9 girls listened
 * Data and Observations:**
 * 19** students total


 * Everybody listened for the most part (still talked, but were quiet when asked)
 * Follow instructions (may have to be explained more than once because they didn’t understand)
 * Have a good attitude
 * Interact with teacher
 * Answer questions when asked
 * Participation
 * Take suggestions from other students and teachers
 * Listen to people at their tables
 * Peer influence
 * Don’t always listen
 * Say what’s on their mind when it’s on their mind
 * Act like children
 * Stare off in space, get bored, play with things in front of them
 * Teacher notices problems and makes a solution
 * Call students over individually
 * Solve their own problems
 * Listen until they’re having problems solving their problems
 * Are given time outs if not listening
 * Teacher may have to do a countdown for students to be quiet, or clap to get attention
 * By the end of activity time they start to talk more and more






 * Pictures:**







Authority and its Effect on Children Does authority affect children and their decision making? Taylor Clayton Mohammed Al-mujaljal Bloomington, IL     Seoul, South Korea 4/2/12

Our hypothesis dealt with how kids reacted to commands from authority rather than people close to their own age. We hypothesize that kids would act like kids, and react to the commands that they receive from the people in authority. We believe that kids will recognize what’s a good command to obey and what’s not. Visit an elementary school and observe the class. Have the teacher say commands and see the children’s response with their attitude and if they follow instructions. We took note of how many boys and girls listened to the teacher. After the last time, we took a total of the times we observed and students and found a percentage of the amount of time the class listened and how many boys vs. girls listened. It was easier to observe the reactions of the children instead of going around and surveying them about something like originally planned because little kids tend to change their mind day by day. They are typically indecisive when it comes to having opinions on something and by asking them a question about it, it could potentially blow the experiment because the observer would be jeopardizing the product.
 * __ Hypothesis: __**
 * __ Research Method: __**
 * __ Observations: __**
 * Everybody listened
 * Follow instructions
 * o May have to be explained more than once
 * Good attitude
 * Interact with teacher
 * o Participate
 * Take suggestions from other students and teachers
 * Listen to people at their tables
 * Act like children
 * o Say what’s on their mind
 * o Stare off into space
 * o Get bored
 * o Play with things in front of them
 * Teacher notices problems and makes a solution
 * o Call students over individually
 * Able to solve their own problems
 * Punishment for not being quiet when asked
 * Start to get loud by the end of activity time

(Metcalf: Boys vs. Girls)
 * __ Pie Charts: __**

(South Korea: Boys vs. Girls) (Metcalf: Listen vs. Didn’t Listen)

(South Korea: Listen vs. Didn’t Listen)

Research Analysis Our research project dealt with how authority affects children and their decision making and how they react to commands. We hypothesized that the children would listen to authority and listen to the commands they are given. The basis of the experiment is that kids listen to their authority figures and that they will give into peer pressure at some point because that is natural. They listen to each other but do listen to authority the majority of the class time.

We observed an elementary school three times total each with a close number of students. I visited Metcalf and there were 19 students consisting of 10 boys and nine girls. My partner visited a school in South Korea and he had a total of 17 students with nine boys and eight girls. The results were similar and our observations were basically identical to each other.

After observing I came to the conclusion that girls listened more than the boys did based on the fact that seven out of the 10 boys listened and that eight of the nine girls listened. After doing the calculations I found out that about 84% of the total students listened. My partner found that girls also listened more than the boys did generally. Our results were very similar in observation and data because he had six out of nine boys listened and seven out of the eight girls listened. . He also found that about 74% of the total students listened. After comparing observations, we concluded that girls listened more than the boys did for the most part, and that majority of all students listened.

Comparing the results it can be found that the hypothesis is supported. It is supported because the students did listen to their teachers but they also listened to what their friends or other classmates said. It was expected though that the children would listen to peer pressure and start to agree with each other and stop following the rules because they are little kids. However, the fact that kids can pay attention to their classwork and follow the commands given for the majority of class was interesting. It was found that these students in each scenario would act like children. For example, the objects that were in front of them for activity time they would begin to play with or start messing with people around them. According to my partner’s research, he found that the kids would also start to mess around and get distracted easily.

The accuracy of the data depends on the kind of school visited. I went to a lab school and I’m not sure what kind of school my partner went to. Going to the lab school the data is accurate for the most part. It is expected that the children enrolled in this kind of school don’t disrupt class and are respectable to each other and their authority figures. Granted that kids will be kids and that they won’t necessarily be quiet through the whole class period, the ones that I personally observed were nice and proper. From what I could gather from my partner’s results was that the school he visited also has a well-respected manner and are able to follow the rules. Part of this could be the location and the culture these children have grown up on.

The flaws that could be encountered in this experiment deal with making sure the kids act the same no matter what, how the observer counts the participation, and the potential to miscount everyone and their actions. Going into a class and observing isn’t something the observer can hide. Luckily being lab school students, they are used to people coming in and out watching what they do. If someone were to tell them why a person was observing, there could be more problems because they know what it is for and how they are being compared as students. It is hard for the observer to notice which person listens and who doesn’t and making sure they don’t count them more than once unless it is a different time. It is easy to miscount who participates and who doesn’t.

Looking at the finalized results we can conclude that the students that were observed were well behaved and listen to authority. Everyone around them has an influence but what it really comes down to is that the teachers really impacted their actions no matter what country they are in. The students had their share of problems which were expected, but were able to follow instructions even if they needed to be explained more than once.