OER4Schools/Collecting and interpreting information part 2

Additional material to help with recording results from enquires.

if you are planning for you students to collect some experimental data you might like to watch the following sequence of videos that show a South African teacher preparing her students to draw a graph of some data.

video 1 - making sure everyone understands the table

Pindi Graphs 3.4.mp4

• Why does the teacher remind the students of what they had done previously?
• What are the benefits to the students of the teacher drawing the table on the chalk board?
• Do you think it was a good idea to leave the table blank? Why?

The teacher reminds the students of work they had done on this enquiry in a previous lesson. She has planned for the students to do quite a lot of graph drawing as part of this enquiry on exponentials.

Add some videos of Pindi describing in detail how to draw up and fill in results table. Include a student completed worksheet (measuring pulse rate) for critique.

Making predictions

Recall that:

• a hypothesis is an explanation of why something is happening (or will happen) and so is a good starting point for investigation/argument/further observations/tests
• a prediction is a statement of what you think will happen before it does so

and that it is possible to make a prediction based on a hypothesis or without a hypothesis.

We know that encouraging students to make predictions about the outcomes of their enquiries allows them to exercise higher order thinking skills as they must think about the many possibilities that might occur/exist.

Whole class dialogue (20 min) on making predictions.

• What other positive consequences could there be of students predicting the outcomes of their enquires?
• What are the potential drawbacks of encouraging students to make predictions?

Here are some video clips of students working on making predictions for the outcome of an enquiry that they will soon do. Watch a few of them now (begin watching the first one from 1:34) and the rest in your own time after the session. Notice how motivated the students are and how they support and encourage each other. Think about the following questions and discuss them as a group if you have time:

• What do you think the teachers role is during this stage of the enquiry process?
• How could you ensure that all students are actively involved in making predictions?
• What strategies could you have in place to make sure that any misconceptions uncovered at this stage would be picked up and dealt with?

VIDEO

Observation of small group completing lung capacity worksheet together

Small group working together to discuss and complete lung capacity worksheet

Video/Aggie Fitness A06.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Aggie_Fitness_A06.m4v,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Aggie Fitness folder. Duration: 4:35 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox) (Video filmed in 2012, at CBS.)(Series: Aggie Fitness, episode 06)

VIDEO

Small group discusses how to measure lung capacity displacement

Small group working together to guess lung capacity displacement

Video/Aggie Fitness A07.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Aggie_Fitness_A07.m4v,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Aggie Fitness folder. Duration: 1:48 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox) (Video filmed in 2012, at CBS.)(Series: Aggie Fitness, episode 07)

VIDEO

Group revises original estimates of lung capacity

Small group decides to adjust their guesses on lung capacity

Video/Aggie Fitness A08.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Aggie_Fitness_A08.m4v,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Aggie Fitness folder. Duration: 0:51 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox) (Video filmed in 2012, at CBS.)(Series: Aggie Fitness, episode 08)

VIDEO

Small group discusses how many millilitres are in a litre

Small group discussion on how many millilitres make up a litre

Video/Aggie Fitness A09.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Aggie_Fitness_A09.m4v,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Aggie Fitness folder. Duration: 2:36 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox) (Video filmed in 2012, at CBS.)(Series: Aggie Fitness, episode 09)

Same-task group work (20 min) on analysing data.

Before you carry on to analyse your data, discuss these questions with the other members of your group:

1. What is your ‘best guess’ at this point in time? Why?
2. Do you think the data help you to Same-task group work (10 min) on collecting and interpreting data. to the enquiry? Why?
3. How do you know that you can ‘trust’ the data that has been collected? Why?
4. What is the best way to make sense of the data so that you are able to find some solutions to the enquiry?
5. Thinking back to the videos of the students measuring their height, how might inaccurate results affect their BMI calculation/hypothesis/conclusion?

Make a start on analysing your data in this session. Between this session and the next, continue to analyse your data and be ready to present your findings to your colleagues during the next session You should arrange a time to get together with the other members of your group or alternatively divide up the tasks relating to the analysis and presentation between you now. You will also have a short time to finalise your presentation at the beginning of the next session .

Background reading

Is your data reliable?

The analysis of the data involves responding to the questions above. These questions help you evaluate your guesses, and assess whether the data collected is valid (ie. whether it can actually answer the enquiry questions) or reliable (ie. whether the data comes from a rigorous and trustworthy method of data collection cf. the discrepancies in measuring height highlighted in the videos). If you do not think the data fulfills the qualities of validity and reliability, then you should immediately highlight the problem and try to find out why this could have happened. It may be that you need to to rethink or repeat the data collection process. If you are satisfied with the data collected, you can then go ahead to make sense of the data so that you are able to present a solution, or different solutions, to the rest of the participants next week.

Remember, to ensure that the data collected is reliable. It may be necessary to repeat the experiment a number of times. Averages can then be calculated if further processing is needed - for example in the paper airplane enquiry. To ensure that the data is valid, make sure to consider all the possible variables and which ones to control.

Collecting and Interpreting Data: Part two

Same-task group work (10 min) on collecting and interpreting data. You have now collected the data and should be ready to analyse or find solutions to respond to appropriately during the enquiry. Where should you begin and how do you proceed with this section of the enquiry?

The follow are the steps in the scientific method as usually followed in many scientific investigations and enquiries. They are not in the right order. Working in small groups, arrange the steps in the right order by putting the numbers 1-8 next to them.

• Data is analysed.
• The investigation is done (using whatever equipment/materials you have chose to use) and data is collected.
• A hypothesis is formed - this is usually a best guess based on what’s already known.
• Results are communicated.
• A question or a problem is posed.
• Conclusions are reached.
• Research is done to find out what is already known about the topic.
• A very detailed step-by-step experimental procedure is designed to test the hypothesis – this is the scientific enquiry or investigation and must take into account all variables affecting the experiment.

Educator note

Here are the steps (in order) in the scientific method as usually followed in many scientific investigations and enquiries:

• A question or a problem is posed.
• Research is done to find out what is already known about the topic.
• A hypothesis is formed - this is usually a best guess based on what’s already known.
• A very detailed step-by-step experimental procedure is designed to test the hypothesis – this is the scientific enquiry or investigation and must take into account all variables affecting the experiment.
• The investigation is done (using whatever equipment/materials you have chose to use) and data is collected.
• Data is analysed.
• Conclusions are reached.
• Results are communicated.

You should observe that the steps are very similar to the EBL steps. The steps in italics should be a particularly helpful reminder to what enquiry activities you have carried out, in the context of a scientific investigation method.