Week 4 Reflection - better late than never!

Using Online Data

Students like to sound knowledgeable and so they often make statements based upon things they have heard their parents, or sometimes a favorite teacher, say.  Continually I ask my students, “How do you know?” or, “…based on what data?”  When I ask them to form conclusions after a lab investigation I always require them to use data to back up or support their statements.  But it seems that no matter how often, or how I say it, a high percentage of my students fail to provide adequate data to support their conclusions.  They just don’t seem to understand that their opinions hold no value without the data to support them.  While reading chapter 6 in our text I realized that what my students really need is practice in this area.  I don’t usually give them the practice they need because data collection is time consuming and labor intensive.  However, as our text points out “the internet provides immediate access to numerous data sets.”  Existing online data sets allow students to “explore phenomena beyond their classroom and school settings.”  I’m in!  The task now is to organize my lessons using best practices to make the work more user  friendly and effective at the middle school level.

Generate an argument 

The Sampson and Grooms article describes the relevance of, and methods for,  assignments that “generate an argument.”   While I want to develop lessons based upon this model, I see several challenges as described below:  

1.)    I teach grade 7.  These can be curious and capable folks but they often have no sense of how little they actually know.  I will need to insure that my students have, or have the ability to develop, adequate background knowledge in the area of study.

2.)    There is a lot of data out there.  I need to find ways to isolate and restrict the data bases my students will use.

3.)    I need to find a relevant argument that engages these young minds.

I really like how the model includes group cooperative work that could easily incorporate the creation of a digital presentation.  I like how the members of each group then need to share and defend their conclusions.  But then each student must provide an additional written piece to summarize their argument and provide the reasoning behind their conclusions.  This represents a great combination of learning activities.  I look forward to seeing how my classmates develop this lesson.