Student-designed Experiments: Part 1 Building Curiosity
In this workshop, we will practice a repeatable structure for introducing a topic that will be studied through scientific exploration using a remote teaching and learning platform. We will help our students conduct a preliminary investigation at home developing interest in a particular phenomenon by generating data and making observations and hypotheses. We will then […]
Statistics for Teaching Science: Part 3 Getting Comfortable with Variance, Standard Deviation, Standard Error of the Mean, and the 95% Confidence Interval
The variance, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean are excellent methods for describing data because they convey the variability of the observed data around the mean. Anyone teaching AP, IB, Pre-AP, Pre-IB, or college-bound science students will likely want to know how to calculate these values, what they indicate, and how to contextualize […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 2 Helping Students Write an Experimental Procedure
In this workshop, we will pick up where Part 1 of this series left off. We begin with a list of variables our students have identified as potentially impacting a particular phenomenon they have explored. Using a think-pair-share process, we will give students the structure needed to write steps for a scientific investigation using the […]
Statistics for Teaching Science: Part 4 Expressing Error on a Graph
Error bars are placed on a graph to give a more detailed account of what was observed. Although there are many descriptors that can be used to draw error bars, in each case the value is used to express the uncertainty or variability of the data. Error bars created from certain calculations are especially informative […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 3 Guiding Data Analysis
Teachers will play the role of the students, collecting data in their own homes and pooling their observations and measurements in a spreadsheet shared by their lab partners. We will conduct data analysis within lab groups during the workshop to experience how this process can be performed using remote teaching and learning platforms. Peer critiques […]
Using DataClassroom to Meet Standards in Math, Science, and Reading
This free 1-hour workshop is especially for science and math coordinators, department heads, or any educator who is interested in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching using real data in the grade 6-12 classroom. We will identify mth, science, and language content and skills standards that can be reached through the exploration of data. Kristen will […]
Statistics for Teaching Science: Part 5 Hypothesis Testing Using Chi-squared
Parts 5-8 continue the Statistics for Science series to include the skills required in high school Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) science courses. In these workshops, we will learn how and when to use each of the most common statistical tests that are used to test hypotheses. A hand-calculation will be done using […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 4 Drawing Evidence-based Conclusions
This workshop will focus on the content and demands of the conclusion section of a lab report, with applications to data-based questions and internal assessments for IB students, and free response questions for AP students. The conclusions drawn from experimental data must be limited to the scope of the experiment, but it is also important […]
Statistics for Teaching Science: Part 6 Hypothesis Testing Using the Student’s t-test
Parts 5-8 continue the Statistics for Science series to include the skills required in high school Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) science courses. In these workshops, we will learn how and when to use each of the most common statistical tests that are used to test hypotheses. A hand-calculation will be done using […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 5 Data-generating Activities for Labs and Computation
Whether in the classroom or at home, how do we initiate the process of student-designed lab or field experiments? The first step is to help the students see potential research questions and the data in the world around them. In this 1.5-hour workshop, we engage in several demonstration activities to help teachers see sources for […]