Session 5.5 - Presenting findings of enquiries
The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource
Learning intentions and objectives.
In this session you will learn about:
- what to look out for in presenting data and findings for an EBL lesson
- how to present the results of an EBL activity
- how EBL activities can be carried out more seamlessly in ‘everyday’ lessons
Success criteria.
To meet the learning intentions you will:
- watch three examples of student presentations and discuss stimulus questions as a whole group
- present in groups the results of an enquiry using presentation rubric as guidance
- reflect on what you have learned about EBL using an inventory based on the material covered in this unit
ICT components.
In this session you will continue to apply the ICT skills
you have learnt so far for EBL, and to think about how they help you
implement EBL in the classroom.
Review of follow-up activities from last session
Presenting findings: Watching some examples
Whole class dialogue (30 min) on presenting findings You will be watching a few video clips on students presenting their work after some research and preparation of an enquiry topic. Consider the questions that follow whilst watching the video clip and discuss them as a whole group afterwards.
Video A: Grade 7 Zambian students in Abel’s class presenting outcomes of their GeoGebra enquiry on the relationship between area and perimeter (spend 10 mins)
Consider these questions as you watch:
- What kind of feedback would you give the students?
- Would it be useful if the students presented some reflections on their work (as well as their solutions)? What kind of reflections could you ask them to include?
- Could there be other ways for the students to present their work? What kind of preparation would they need and how could you assist them?
VIDEO
Students presenting work on area and perimeter
Students present outcome of findings of GeoGebra investigation on rectangles with the same area but different perimeters.
Video/Abel Clip 5.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Abel_Clip_5.m4v,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Abel rectangles folder. Duration: 1:21 watch on YouTube,
Video B: Secondary school students from various countries presenting their recommendations on basic rights of education for a child during a Project Citizen National Finals, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy (10 mins)
Consider these questions as you watch:
- What do you notice about the fluency and confidence of the presentations?
- How can you help your students to be more fluent and confident in their presentations?
VIDEO
Project Citizen Student Presentations
Project Citizen Student Presentations
Video/Project Citizen Student Presentations.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Project_Citizen_Student_Presentations.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Video from other organisations folder. Duration: 3:00 watch on YouTube,
The Zedupad resource Discrimination: women and girls (see link below) could be used with your students to explore some of the issues particular to women and girls around the basic right to an education. It tells the story of Mary who is being denied an education.
Slide 14 asks the following questions:
- Why doesn't Mary go to school?
- Why does her father send her brothers to school?
- Is this fair?
- What human rights is she being denied?
Video C: American secondary students presenting their findings on cyber-bullying to a panel of professionals in a Project Citizen State Showcase (10 mins)
Consider these questions as you watch:
- What do you notice about the way that the students organise themselves to present their findings? Is it effective? Why?
- What do you notice about the resources that the students have prepared for the presentations? Is it effective? Why?
VIDEO
The Problem Project Citizen State Showcase KIDS
Panel 1 The Problem Project Citizen State Showcase KIDS
Video/Panel 1 The Problem Project Citizen State Showcase KIDS.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Panel_1_The_Problem_Project_Citizen_State_Showcase_KIDS.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Video from other organisations folder. Duration: 2:40 watch on YouTube,
Modes of presentation
Whole class dialogue (10 min) on modes of presentation In all of the video clips you have seen, students present through speaking to the class and using visual props / displays of their work. What other means of presentation can they use, for more variety and to capture different kinds of outcomes? Which of these are feasible in your context?
VIDEO
Explanation of randomly selecting pupils to present
Pindi explains how she will randomly select the pupils using strips of paper which have ticks or crosses on them. Pupils are given two more minutes to ensure that everyone in their group is able to present the work.
Video/Pindi Graphs3-17.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Pindi_Graphs3-17.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Graphs folder. Duration: 01:07 watch on YouTube,
Presenting findings - Criteria of assessment
Whole class dialogue (20 min) on criteria of assessment You have watched and discussed the different considerations of what a good presentation may entail. List all the criteria that you think your students should be informed about, when they prepare and eventually present their enquiry findings.
Now look at this example of an assessment rubric for class presentation:
http://drsaraheaton.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/presentation-grading-rubric4.pdf
An assessment rubric like the one you have seen above provides the criteria for assessment and the list of descriptors of performance at the different levels.
Discuss these questions:
- Do you agree with the list of criteria and the descriptors of performance for a presentation?
- Are they appropriate for use in your class?
- How would you revise the assessment rubric for use in your class?
- How useful such an assessment rubric is for your students in terms of:
- i. Helping them to be aware of the criteria and standards of presentations that you expect from them.
- ii. Providing feedback to them during their preparation and after their presentation.
- iii. Discussing with them what are exemplars of a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ presentations.
- iv. How can the assessment rubric be used for the other stages of EBL activity?
Presenting findings – group presentation
Whole class dialogue (30 min): group presentation Have a go now at presenting your enquiry findings (for activities A-E) that you have worked on together in your small groups for the past weeks. Ensure that you present HOW you arrived at your conclusions. Decide on the maximum time that you would allow each group to present (we suggest 5-8 mins) and allocate a time-keeper. At the end of each presentation, allow the audience to ask questions for clarification (we suggest 3-5 mins).
The audience should make use of the assessment rubric above (or any revised version of the criteria and descriptors) to provide constructive feedback on the strength of the presentation and what areas could be improved on (as we will expect learners to do in the classroom).
ICT practice: Making use of ICT in enquiry-based learning
Different-tasks group work (20 min) with ICT on various topics.
Classroom use of
- Geogebra
- slideshows
- (optional) concept mapping software
Connecting with overarching goals of the programme
Open space (10 min). It's now time for the "open space", that gives you an opportunity to discuss issues that have arisen, and to relate those to the broader context of the programme. Do not just gloss over this section, but make time to raise issues, and probe the progress that you are making. You could use this space to:
- Remind yourselves of the of the Most Significant Change Technique, and e.g. collect more of your stories.
- Discuss your assessment portfolios: Is there anything that you are unsure about? Is it going well? What could be done better?
- Check on the work with the classroom assistants: Is this going well? Are there any tensions? Any observations or tips you can share?
- Reviewing individual ICT practise (such as typing practise).
- If you are preparing a presentation for other teachers, you could work on the presentation (about what you have been learning, stories emerging from MSC).
- Remind those who are doing audio diaries, to upload them.
- You could discuss any other issues that have arisen.
You will find notes and summaries of various techniques and concepts on our reference page, and you might want to refer to those for clarification during this activity if needed.
Follow-up activities
Agreeing follow-up activities (5 min).
Part A
You should try out a mini-EBL lesson (if you have not already done so) and proceed on to complete the more extended EBL ‘field or project day’; this is where your students will complete their enquiries, analyse their findings and present them to the class. The presentation session needs careful handling if the learning outcomes are to be fully achieved.
[Resource] Note that the site http://www.our-africa.org/zambia/climate-agriculture may be useful for the project on what crops are grown.
Conducting the enquiry / Data collection
Please ensure that students’ work throughout the enquiry is documented. You could use a digital camera to photograph both the students doing their activities and the outcomes.
Ask them to record what they are doing throughout, using separate sheets of paper where applicable rather than subject notebooks, so that these can be collated at the end and photocopied. These records can feed into your portfolio.
Presentations:
- Ensure that your students present their findings in the form of their learning journey (ie. WHY and HOW they have arrived at their conclusions? How much evidence is there for their claims?), rather than just presenting a particular solution.
- They should be able to reflect on how they may approach the enquiry task differently next time and how they this task has prompted them to think of other enquiry topics or questions. Encourage your students to make use of different presentation formats (e.g. role play, skit, song and dance presentation) and resources (e.g. charts/tables/diagrams, actual models, notes for the audience, series of images).
- Highlight to the audience that they should be listening and watching their classmates’ presentations and be ready to raise questions and comments. Both peers and you, the teacher, should provide constructive feedback that is related to the assessment criteria.
- If possible, video record or at least audio record some of the presentations. The workshop facilitator or another colleague may be able to help you do this.
The reporting stage can be followed by a ‘consolidation’ stage where the pupils are encouraged to use the information they have gained to further advance their knowledge and understanding. This kind of reflective discussion, where the group outcomes are shared, can be very useful. (from TESSA Key Resource: “Using investigations in the classroom”)
Part B
The full sets of reflection questions on your own planning and implementation of EBL lessons are listed below. You may like to take some time to make use of the questions to reflect on how successfully you think you have managed to capture the ‘spirit’ of enquiry in your class in the last few weeks. Please make a full audio reflection for Parts B and C using your dictaphone.
Watch the following clip to review what EBL is about:
VIDEO
Inquiry-Based Learning
Inquiry-Based Learning for curriculum and instruction class
Video/Inquiry-Based Learning for curriculum and instruction class.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Inquiry-Based_Learning_for_curriculum_and_instruction_class.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Video from other organisations folder. Duration: 03:25 watch on YouTube,
You might still have some concerns about whether EBL will really work in your classroom. What are your concerns and what are some take-away messages for yourself? How will you proceed to use/adapt EBL more seamlessly in your future lessons?
Planning Stage
- Will there be shared lesson objectives or would it differ considerably depending on that enquiry work is chosen?
- How will the enquiry tasks support enquiry, questioning and discussion?
- Will the tasks constitute a project or activity extending over and between lessons? If not, how can this be arranged?
- If so, will students do anything in between lessons? Will this involve research? Will the parents or other family/community members be involved?
- Will the tasks be undertaken by
- individuals (perhaps cooperating by sharing equipment and helping each other with both technical issues and the task) - could enquire as a group but not strictly co-enquiry!
- groups (collaboratively planning and developing ideas, conducting the work, learning to compromise and giving feedback)
- or the whole class working together collaboratively?
- How will students record what they learned?
- If groups, will there be group presentations to the class?
- If groups, will different groups investigate different aspects of the topic and then share their knowledge with the class?
- What criteria will the class use to assess the outcomes of their enquiry? How will you ensure that any criticism is constructive and sensitive? How will the group be encouraged to take on board constructive feedback?
- How will students assess their own work?
Implementing Stage
- How are the students involved in framing the enquiry tasks and questions? (e.g. could groups or individuals generate and record ideas about "what I/we want to know"? Or for a whole class investigation, could the class vote on which enquiry is the most interesting yet feasible to pursue? )
- Are the tasks open-ended enough so that the students also could take some responsibility for how they develop, rather than just producing an answer or a solution? (open-ended tasks can still contain guidance)
- Can students conduct experiment, search for information or resources themselves?
- Can students interpret the information or data themselves?
- Can you persuade students to ask more questions without feeling shy or stupid?
- Can you show students that you can be a learner alongside them?
- Are the resources - inside and outside the classroom, human/material/digital - sufficient and accessible to all of them?
- Can you and the rest of the class give comments or criticisms that are constructive and sensitive? Can the group be encouraged to take on board constructive feedback?
- Are the students motivated to suggest more enquiry ideas of their own?
Part C
(after the final enquiry stage is implemented)
You have learnt quite a lot about EBL and have had gone through a full cycle of EBL with your colleagues in the past few weeks. Write down your thoughts on EBL (based on the reflection questions, concerns and any other take-away messages) and a few ideas on what you would like to try out for your future planning and implementation of EBL in your class. This can be one of the documents to be filed in your portfolio.
Referring to what you have written down, complete the following questionnaire to review how much you have learnt and tried to practise EBL in your classrooms. Circle the choice that best represents how you feel about each topic in this unit. There are no right or wrong answers! You may be inspired to write down some further thoughts on learning about and trying out EBL in the future after you have completed the questionnaire.
| 5.1 Introduction to EBL | |||
| How much do I know about the benefits of EBL? | very much | somewhat | not much |
| How interested am I to learn more about EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| 5.2 Starting the enquiry process | |||
| How much do I know about the different parts or sections of EBL? | very much | somewhat | not much |
| How much do I know about the different levels of EBL? | very much | somewhat | not much |
| Do I know which level of EBL I am most comfortable to try out in my class? | Yes | Not sure | No |
| How skilled am I at posing good enquiry questions? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How often do I encourage my students to pose good enquiry questions? | routinely | sometimes | not often |
| How interested am I to learn and improve on making use of good enquiry questions as stimuli to engage my student’s learning? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| 5.3 Collecting and Interpreting Information in Enquiries | |||
| How much do I know about the various ways of collecting information in EBL? | very much | somewhat | not much |
| How much do I know about the appropriate analysis of information? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How confident am I in giving good feedback to the students on their collection and interpretation of information in EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How interested am I to learn more about collection and interpretation of information for EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| 5.4 Presenting Findings of Enquiries | |||
| How much do I know about the different modes of presentation of findings in EBL? | very much | somewhat | not much |
| How much do I know about the different criteria and descriptors for assessing a presentation? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How confident am I in giving good feedback to the students on their presentations? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How interested am I to find out more on different modes of presentation? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How interested am I to find out more on using criteria and descriptors for assessing all the parts or sections of EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| 5.1-5.4 Use of ICT to support EBL | |||
| How much do I know about using ICT to support the various parts of EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
| How interested am I to find out more on using ICT to support EBL? | very much | somewhat | not very |
