| The Effect of Gender on the Hand-Eye Coordination of Sixth Grade Students | |
Researched by Jessica M.
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I became interested in this idea because I have always had an interest in the human body and how it works. I saw this as a great opportunity to find out whether girls or boys had better hand-eye coordination. Some people claimed that boys were better athletes than girls, but I questioned that. Hand-eye coordination is a big part of success in sports.
The information gained from this experiment would be helpful to people in the medical field, coaches, and insurance companies. Coaches and scouts could use the results from this experiment for finding better players for sports teams. Insurance companies could use hand-eye coordination information because if it were proven that boys had better hand-eye coordination, the price for their insurance might go down.
I based my hypothesis on an internet site I found while conducting my research. The site http://biac.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/lab/110/reaction.htp states, "…in almost every age group, males have a faster reaction time than females…"
My second hypothesis was that the boys and girls being tested would have the same average amount of mistakes while driving the remote control car through the course.
I base my hypothesis on the information gained from speaking to Debbie Sheppard, the occupational therapist at my school. She said, "Several years ago, boys probably would have had fewer mistakes than girls because they practiced driving remote control cars more often. Now, a few years later, boys and girls practice driving these toys the same amount of time. The number of mistakes will probably be about the same."
- The approximate age of the subjects.
- The course that the remote control car was driven on.
- The remote control car.
- The controller used to guide the car.
- Experimenter’s script read to each subject as instructions
- Battery condition of the car
The manipulated variable was the gender of the subjects.
The responding variables were the number of mistakes each gender made as they navigated their way through the course and the amount of time it took to navigate the course.
The hand-eye coordination of sixth grade students was measured by the mistakes (number of times the car travels outside the tape boundary) tallied by the experimenter and the time to complete the course using a digital stopwatch.
| QUANTITY | ITEM DESCRIPTION |
| 1 | roll of masking tape |
| 1 | remote control car (see picture below) |
| 1 | blueprint of course |
| 3 | battery sets |
| 1 | re-charger |
| 1 | data collection sheet |
| 1 | stopwatch |
| 1 | clipboard |
| 1 | experimenter’s script |
| 1 | pencil |
| 1 | pair of scissors |
2. Create a course out of masking tape on a, flat surface (such as a hard floor) using the blueprint as a guide. (See appendix.)
3. Accompany the first subject into the testing area.
4. On the data collection table, record the student’s gender, age, and name.
5. Read instructions aloud to them. (See experimenter’s script in appendix.)
6. Next, give brief demonstration to the subject on how to operate the remote control car.
a. Show how the controller works
b. Answer any questions the student has
7. Let the subject practice driving the car for approximately one minute.
8. When the subject is done test-driving the remote control car, set up the test.
a. Set the stopwatch
b. Put the car at the starting point of the course
c. Hand the controller to the student
9. Wait for the student to specify that they are ready by saying "go" and start the stopwatch.
10. While the subject navigates the car through the course, record the number of mistakes made, on the data collection sheet. (A mistake is any time the wheel of the car touches the tape.)
11. When the student reaches the end, stop the stopwatch.
12. Record the time it took to drive the car through the course on the data collection sheet.
13. Repeat steps 8-12 one more time for the same subject.
14. Erase subject’s name.
15. Thank the student for their time and accompany them back to their classroom to obtain another subject.
16. Repeat steps 3-15 twice for all other students being tested.
The results of the experiment were that boys have a faster speed than girls. The boys’ average time was 77.4 seconds and the girls’ average time was 102.9 seconds. The boys also had fewer mistakes than girls while driving the car through the course. The average number of mistakes for boys was 5.4 and the average number of mistakes for girls was 8.9.
My second hypothesis was that the boys and girls being tested would have the same average mistakes while driving the remote control car through the course. The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected.
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if there would be a difference between the hand-eye coordination of adults and children.
My findings should be useful to coaches, scouts, people in the medical field, and insurance companies. All of these people could benefit from my final results because the information shows that boys had a better time and fewer mistakes while driving the car through the course. This could lead to more boys being picked for sports teams, and /or their insurance rates may go down.
If I were to conduct this project again there are several things I would have done differently. As to get more subjects, I would distribute the parent permission slips to the sixth grade classes one or two weeks earlier. I would also do a better job of testing the same number of girls and boys. If I were to do this, the results may change and be more accurate. For the convenience of the subjects, I would get a remote control car that was easier to drive and I would give the subjects more time to practice driving the car through the course.
- My teachers Mr. Newkirk, Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Hostetler for helping me with every part of my science project including my display board, my report and my experiment.
- My family for buying any supplies that I needed to conduct my experiment and for just supporting me throughout the whole process.
- The forty students that returned signed parent permission slips in order to participate in my testing.
- My school, for keeping an extra classroom free in order for my experiment to be conducted.
- Debbie Sheppard, my school’s occupational therapist for taking the time to help me come up with a reasonable hypothesis.
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