Four of my students are working on a unit in their World History course that covers The Scientific Revolution. As the students conduct an internet investigation into the who, what, where, when, and why of The Revolution I will record the methods and progress of their search.
THE ASSIGNMENT
Use the “Net” to investigate the Scientific Revolution and find the following information.
1) Define the Scientific Revolution
2) List three scientists of The Revolution
3) List three important inventions/discoveries of The Scientific Revolution
4) List three lasting contributions of The Scientific Revolution
I intend to record the following data while observing my students:
1) How many steps/sites does it take them to arrive on a pertinent website?
2) What are the exact steps taken?
3) (Road Blocks) What actions led them away from gathering useful information?
4) (Green Lights) What actions led to successful gathering of information?
The small size of the group should allow me to thoroughly answer these questions.
Sounds great! I really like the road blocks and green lights! (I might have to borrow that with my 5th graders!) Are you going to track why they went to a certain site or why they decided it was a good site? That information might be really interesting to add in too!
I apologize for posting a bit later - but I've had a tough time narrowing down my project and I don’t think I’m quiet there yet. Currently, I am teaching an Earth, Sun and Moon unit to 3 classes of 5th graders. Each class has about 30 students in it.
This is a new unit for me and my students. With that in mind I would like to investigate how students determine if a website contains pertinent information to their topic.
My plan is to give my students 3-5 sites about a topic (possibly sunlight & seasons) that they can investigate. Their job will be to use one site to answer a set of basic questions. Students will have the list of questions to be answered in front of them as they check out the different sites.
As they are investigating I will be observing their search behaviors and questioning them. Possible questions to ask them as they are exploring the different site are:
*What draws them to a site? *Why do you think this site gave you the best information to answer the question? *Did you look at all of the sites? Why or Why not? *How did they decide what site to go to first? *What did you like about the site? didn’t like? how could it be better? *When looking at a site - was their something on it that made you check it out? graphs? font? color? layout?
Again - this is a rough idea. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I'm sorry I haven't been able to post on the blog, because I couldn't get my google account going. But I made it!
Lisen, you seem all set. Excellent work.
I myself have been thinking of lots of ideas. I teach Physics, AP Chemistry, and Environmental chemistry. I am moving into atomic structure with my students in Environmental Chemistry, and I think it would be cool for the students to research the history of our understanding of the atomic structure from the ancient Greeks (or earlier?) to modern quantum mechanic theories.
Melanie, I liked the specifity of you're questions about the students' attraction to certain sites.
I wondered if I should supply the students with websites I've found (your 3-5 suggested websites) or study students doing it their own way. I considered having two groups each doing it one of these ways, but I'm not sure of the logistics of keeping the students seperate- I only have the one class of environmental chem kids. If I had two classes, it would be easy to try both methods.
I'm leaning towards letting the students wing it on their own, because that might be the more fruitful study of their research behavior. The research goals for the students I'm thinking of are:
1. What are the major theories about matter, in terms of what matter is and what it is made up of, throughout history, from the ancient Greeks to today? 2. As you describe each theories, discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the theory. What reasons generated each theory? What was untrue about any of the theorists' postulates? 3. Prevailing theories about the structure of matter were perceived as true by many people at the time. Does that say anything about the validity of modern theories?
I would ask the students to keep a log of what internet resources they found useful or useless, how they found them, and what made the useful ones useful.
I could also do a survey at the end of their project, whether an online survey or a paper one, to answer questions about their research behavior.
That's what I have so far, and like melanie, I'd appreciate any comments and suggestions.
Patrick, I considered giving them specific websites to visit ahead of time too (that's actually how I usually do it in order to reign in the search) but I think for this information gathering session it'll be interesting and informative to see where they naturally gravitate.
-As for the typos, I am glad I'm not the only one!
Just to be clear,out of the 3-4 sites you provide the students must choose one to find their answers? I like that because it forces them to analyze the differences. It'll be very interesting to get their reasoning behind their choices. In other words why did they decide that particular site was the best choice for them. I can think of a number of hypotheses on what might attract them to a site: pleasing graphics, easily understood information, information most closely matches questions. But one never knows they are always full of surprises!
Melanie- Now that Lisen mentionned it, I see about the students picking only one of the 3-5 sites to use as a resource, then explaining why they picked the one they did. That's a cool idea. For mine, I think I'll stick with the students finding the sites. However, I wonder if I should have a list of some sites in case they get stuck, or will that interfere with my own inquiry project while it makes their's a little easier.
ugggg - had to delete my last comment...my thoughts were all out of order! So sorry! Let's try this again!
Lisen-
Yes my students will have to use one of the sites I have given them. I'm afraid with my 5th graders they would be easily side tracked and we wouldn't accomplish much of anything!
I totally agree with you that they are always full of surprises. I think the information gleaned from this inquiry will help me tons later when we do our research projects.
Patrick -
I think for your project you might want to have them find their own site. Your students have much more experience searching for information on the internet then mine do.
Rather than actual websites, how about helping students with a key search phrase if they get stuck? That way you aren't giving them a specific site but guiding them. With a phrase they will still have to determine which site to go to. Which shouldn't skew your results.
For my inquiry project, I will have to use my peers as the "subjects", due to the fact that I teach kindergarten, and my students: 1)Don't know how to read, and 2)Don't use the internet. My district is really struggling with the Michigan GLCEs for science and social studies (especially social studies). The GLCEs are newer for these than math and ELA, and none of the materials that we have coincide with the new requirements. This leaves the teachers to find their own resources and activities. For my inquiry project, I will be researching the ways that the teachers in my building locate information and materials via internet to teach science in their grades/classrooms. I am particularly interested in the wording that they use to find materials using a search engine, and if there are any places online that they frequent when looking for activities. Therefore, my focus will be the following:
1) When looking for materials/activities online, what is your first instinct when searching for information (for example, do you use a search engine, and if so which one; or do you use a website such as the Discovery Channel, etc.)?
2) If you are using a search engine, what kinds of key words do you use? Do you have any specific strategies for finding phrases of information?
3) How do you distinguish between a quality website/activity and one that is of lower standards?
To accomplish this, I will send out a survey using Survey Monkey or another type of application through email to other teachers in my building.
Are you going to give them specific area that they need to search for in Science? It might be easier for you to evaluate the data if everyone is looking at the same unit or same GLCE's.
And are you looking at surveying all teachers? Or just lower el? There also might be some differences between how a lower el and upper el teacher might search for something.
Just some thoughts. I do love how you are having your colleagues help you out and I think it will be very interesting to see how people search.
So Melanie-It turns out these kids don't need my help with key words. They jumped right in. I'm having them list the websites they visited, what search engine and key words they used, and then to give the reason why they used the website or did not use it. I'll report more Friday when their reference pages are due (final product- the paper- due monday).
That is awesome! Sometimes I think we don't give our kids enough credit. Glad that today went really well! It will be interesting to see our results! I'm taking my kids to the lab on Thursday so I'll let you know how mine did.
Hey team...how is it going? I hope your projects are going well.
We were supposed to go to the lab today, however a fire drill cut our time - so we will head back to the lab in the morning. I'm hoping to post some initial thoughts tomorrow.
Had my kids in the lab today working on our project. I was super surprised that when my student found what they thought was the correct answer they stopped looking at other sites. They wrote down their answer and were done...no double checking of facts.
Some though looked at all of the sites with a very critical eye and gave some great reasons why they choose the site they did. I was also surprised that none of my kids choose the interactive site that they could manipulate the data. Student preference of sites were spread out across the 7 sites.
I am looking forward to taking another look at my data and listening to the kid interviews again. I used the voice recorder on my iphone to ensure I got accurate kid statements - not my paraphrasing!
Lisen checking in. I have to start my observations on Monday. So not much new on my side.
Sarah, I like your twist on the assignment. Hopefully the adults will be prove to be half as cooperative as 5 years olds!
Melanie,I cracked up to read your students stopped the search as soon as they found the first correct answer. Ha! why in the world would one double check?
Patrick, I'm curious about the level of your students in your enviromental chem. class. Are they generally college prep?
Lisen, The kids in Environmental Chem at my school are generally a mixed group, but maybe more towards the lower acheiving side. Some colleg prep kids, but also alot of special ed students. I co teach it with a special ed teacher.
So I've had the kids do their research for two days in class. Their research notes detailing where they went and why were due last Friday. Their final papers on the topic were due today. I'll start reading them tomorrow. One cool thing is that we have googledocs at my school, and several of the students used googledocs and invited me to read their papers there. I can read, make comments, grade- all paperless!
Lisen- Go to lessons, there's a icon that says "appreciating the readings report" and another that says "inquiry 1 project reports". You can attach your work there.
Four of my students are working on a unit in their World History course that covers The Scientific Revolution. As the students conduct an internet investigation into the who, what, where, when, and why of The Revolution I will record the methods and progress of their search.
ReplyDeleteTHE ASSIGNMENT
Use the “Net” to investigate the Scientific Revolution and find the following information.
1) Define the Scientific Revolution
2) List three scientists of The Revolution
3) List three important inventions/discoveries of The Scientific Revolution
4) List three lasting contributions of The Scientific Revolution
I intend to record the following data while observing my students:
1) How many steps/sites does it take them to arrive on a pertinent website?
2) What are the exact steps taken?
3) (Road Blocks) What actions led them away from gathering useful information?
4) (Green Lights) What actions led to successful gathering of information?
The small size of the group should allow me to thoroughly answer these questions.
Lisen-
ReplyDeleteSounds great! I really like the road blocks and green lights! (I might have to borrow that with my 5th graders!) Are you going to track why they went to a certain site or why they decided it was a good site? That information might be really interesting to add in too!
Melanie Gray
I apologize for posting a bit later - but I've had a tough time narrowing down my project and I don’t think I’m quiet there yet. Currently, I am teaching an Earth, Sun and Moon unit to 3 classes of 5th graders. Each class has about 30 students in it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new unit for me and my students. With that in mind I would like to investigate how students determine if a website contains pertinent information to their topic.
My plan is to give my students 3-5 sites about a topic (possibly sunlight & seasons) that they can investigate. Their job will be to use one site to answer a set of basic questions. Students will have the list of questions to be answered in front of them as they check out the different sites.
As they are investigating I will be observing their search behaviors and questioning them. Possible questions to ask them as they are exploring the different site are:
*What draws them to a site?
*Why do you think this site gave you the best information to answer the question?
*Did you look at all of the sites? Why or Why not?
*How did they decide what site to go to first?
*What did you like about the site? didn’t like? how could it be better?
*When looking at a site - was their something on it that made you check it out? graphs? font? color? layout?
Again - this is a rough idea. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Melanie Gray
I'm sorry I haven't been able to post on the blog, because I couldn't get my google account going. But I made it!
ReplyDeleteLisen, you seem all set. Excellent work.
I myself have been thinking of lots of ideas. I teach Physics, AP Chemistry, and Environmental chemistry. I am moving into atomic structure with my students in Environmental Chemistry, and I think it would be cool for the students to research the history of our understanding of the atomic structure from the ancient Greeks (or earlier?) to modern quantum mechanic theories.
Melanie, I liked the specifity of you're questions about the students' attraction to certain sites.
I wondered if I should supply the students with websites I've found (your 3-5 suggested websites) or study students doing it their own way. I considered having two groups each doing it one of these ways, but I'm not sure of the logistics of keeping the students seperate- I only have the one class of environmental chem kids. If I had two classes, it would be easy to try both methods.
I'm leaning towards letting the students wing it on their own, because that might be the more fruitful study of their research behavior.
The research goals for the students I'm thinking of are:
1. What are the major theories about matter, in terms of what matter is and what it is made up of, throughout history, from the ancient Greeks to today?
2. As you describe each theories, discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the theory. What reasons generated each theory? What was untrue about any of the theorists' postulates?
3. Prevailing theories about the structure of matter were perceived as true by many people at the time. Does that say anything about the validity of modern theories?
I would ask the students to keep a log of what internet resources they found useful or useless, how they found them, and what made the useful ones useful.
I could also do a survey at the end of their project, whether an online survey or a paper one, to answer questions about their research behavior.
That's what I have so far, and like melanie, I'd appreciate any comments and suggestions.
Sorry about the typos. I should have previewed my comment before posting. Live and learn.
ReplyDeletePatrick, I considered giving them specific websites to visit ahead of time too (that's actually how I usually do it in order to reign in the search) but I think for this information gathering session it'll be interesting and informative to see where they naturally gravitate.
ReplyDelete-As for the typos, I am glad I'm not the only one!
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear,out of the 3-4 sites you provide the students must choose one to find their answers? I like that because it forces them to analyze the differences. It'll be very interesting to get their reasoning behind their choices. In other words why did they decide that particular site was the best choice for them. I can think of a number of hypotheses on what might attract them to a site: pleasing graphics, easily understood information, information most closely matches questions. But one never knows they are always full of surprises!
Melanie-
ReplyDeleteNow that Lisen mentionned it, I see about the students picking only one of the 3-5 sites to use as a resource, then explaining why they picked the one they did. That's a cool idea.
For mine, I think I'll stick with the students finding the sites. However, I wonder if I should have a list of some sites in case they get stuck, or will that interfere with my own inquiry project while it makes their's a little easier.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteugggg - had to delete my last comment...my thoughts were all out of order! So sorry! Let's try this again!
ReplyDeleteLisen-
Yes my students will have to use one of the sites I have given them. I'm afraid with my 5th graders they would be easily side tracked and we wouldn't accomplish much of anything!
I totally agree with you that they are always full of surprises. I think the information gleaned from this inquiry will help me tons later when we do our research projects.
Patrick -
I think for your project you might want to have them find their own site. Your students have much more experience searching for information on the internet then mine do.
Rather than actual websites, how about helping students with a key search phrase if they get stuck? That way you aren't giving them a specific site but guiding them. With a phrase they will still have to determine which site to go to. Which shouldn't skew your results.
~Melanie Gray
.
For my inquiry project, I will have to use my peers as the "subjects", due to the fact that I teach kindergarten, and my students: 1)Don't know how to read, and 2)Don't use the internet. My district is really struggling with the Michigan GLCEs for science and social studies (especially social studies). The GLCEs are newer for these than math and ELA, and none of the materials that we have coincide with the new requirements. This leaves the teachers to find their own resources and activities. For my inquiry project, I will be researching the ways that the teachers in my building locate information and materials via internet to teach science in their grades/classrooms. I am particularly interested in the wording that they use to find materials using a search engine, and if there are any places online that they frequent when looking for activities. Therefore, my focus will be the following:
ReplyDelete1) When looking for materials/activities online, what is your first instinct when searching for information (for example, do you use a search engine, and if so which one; or do you use a website such as the Discovery Channel, etc.)?
2) If you are using a search engine, what kinds of key words do you use? Do you have any specific strategies for finding phrases of information?
3) How do you distinguish between a quality website/activity and one that is of lower standards?
To accomplish this, I will send out a survey using Survey Monkey or another type of application through email to other teachers in my building.
Sarah- I think your idea sounds great. Are your colleagues pretty supportive?
ReplyDeleteMelanie- Thanks for the input. I think your're right. Self directed searches will give me better data, and having a few keywords is a good idea.
Sarah-
ReplyDeleteAre you going to give them specific area that they need to search for in Science? It might be easier for you to evaluate the data if everyone is looking at the same unit or same GLCE's.
And are you looking at surveying all teachers? Or just lower el? There also might be some differences between how a lower el and upper el teacher might search for something.
Just some thoughts. I do love how you are having your colleagues help you out and I think it will be very interesting to see how people search.
~Melanie Gray
So Melanie-It turns out these kids don't need my help with key words. They jumped right in. I'm having them list the websites they visited, what search engine and key words they used, and then to give the reason why they used the website or did not use it. I'll report more Friday when their reference pages are due (final product- the paper- due monday).
ReplyDeletePatrick-
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Sometimes I think we don't give our kids enough credit. Glad that today went really well! It will be interesting to see our results! I'm taking my kids to the lab on Thursday so I'll let you know how mine did.
Hey team...how is it going? I hope your projects are going well.
ReplyDeleteWe were supposed to go to the lab today, however a fire drill cut our time - so we will head back to the lab in the morning. I'm hoping to post some initial thoughts tomorrow.
~Melanie
Had my kids in the lab today working on our project. I was super surprised that when my student found what they thought was the correct answer they stopped looking at other sites. They wrote down their answer and were done...no double checking of facts.
ReplyDeleteSome though looked at all of the sites with a very critical eye and gave some great reasons why they choose the site they did. I was also surprised that none of my kids choose the interactive site that they could manipulate the data. Student preference of sites were spread out across the 7 sites.
I am looking forward to taking another look at my data and listening to the kid interviews again. I used the voice recorder on my iphone to ensure I got accurate kid statements - not my paraphrasing!
Lisen checking in. I have to start my observations on Monday. So not much new on my side.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I like your twist on the assignment. Hopefully the adults will be prove to be half as cooperative as 5 years olds!
Melanie,I cracked up to read your students stopped the search as soon as they found the first correct answer. Ha! why in the world would one double check?
Patrick, I'm curious about the level of your students in your enviromental chem. class. Are they generally college prep?
Lisen,
ReplyDeleteThe kids in Environmental Chem at my school are generally a mixed group, but maybe more towards the lower acheiving side. Some colleg prep kids, but also alot of special ed students. I co teach it with a special ed teacher.
So I've had the kids do their research for two days in class. Their research notes detailing where they went and why were due last Friday. Their final papers on the topic were due today. I'll start reading them tomorrow.
One cool thing is that we have googledocs at my school, and several of the students used googledocs and invited me to read their papers there. I can read, make comments, grade- all paperless!
How are your Power Points going? I'm finding that I have a lot of data. -Not sure how much of the particulars I should include.
ReplyDeleteCan any of you guys tell me where the "designated angel drop box" is?
Lisen- Go to lessons, there's a icon that says "appreciating the readings report" and another that says "inquiry 1 project reports". You can attach your work there.
ReplyDeletean icon
ReplyDeletesorry
Patrick, Got it! Thank you.
ReplyDelete