Do Now & Agenda Do Now Have you ever discovered something that no one else knew? How did it feel? Agenda Introduction: My Research Lesson & Notes Identifying original research Exit Slip Homework Do Now (Slide 1. 10 min) Students come in, find their seat, and write a response to the prompt. After a few minutes, students share responses with their table and teacher randomly asks a few students to share.
Objectives Statistics Objective I can define original research and describe its characteristics. English Language Objective I can use comparison language to explain the difference between original and library research. (5 min) Students read and write objectives and agenda. Teacher calls on students to read them aloud.
My Research Experience Context: UC Berkeley Professor Deborah Nolan Question: How does the math gap between low- income and higher-income students compare between low-poverty and high- poverty schools? Teacher introduces students to recent research. In my case, that will be my own experience at UC Berkeley during the summer of 2013. This section could take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes, depending on the time available and student interest in the content. Note: Teacher can replace slides 3-7 with discussion of their own research or other current research, discussing each underlined aspect of the research.
My Research Experience Hypothesis There will be a bigger gap for above-poverty students than below-poverty students. Data Set: Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Variables: Student-level poverty (above or below) Percent of students in poverty at a school Math test scores Discuss why we used this data set, how it influenced my question, and what variables are in the data set I had. (3 min)
My Research Experience Strategy: Make bar graphs/histograms/boxplots for each variable Use scatterplots and boxplots to look for relationships between variables Use a regression line to study relationship Use multi-variable regression to see how poverty of student and poverty of school interact Teacher: Briefly discuss that “this is where I decided how to use the statistical tools I learned”. We did step 1, then discussed what we saw, then decided what step 2 would be. It was an iterative process. Professor Nolan showed me how to explore complex problems using basic statistical tools (scatterplots and box plots), and how each step informed the next. Teacher: Talk about how multi-variable regression was new for me and at first I didn’t understand it.
My Research Experience Results Teacher: Briefly explain the results of research, using a useful plot or summary statistics. In this case, I would explain that I used a scatterplot to compare the math scores and free lunch percentages (both continuous variables) but used two colors to show categorical data (above and below poverty level students). I used a regression line to predict the average scores of each category of student based on the percentage of students eligible for free lunch at their school. I found that the gap between the average above- and below- poverty students gets wider when there are fewer students in poverty at a school.
My Research Experience Reflection: Forming a question and a plan is harder than it looks Making and reading many types of graphs was important Research often leads to more questions
What it is & what it is not Formal Research What it is & what it is not Pass out the notetaking guide. Teacher talks students through What is Research powerpoint (What is Research - Day 1.pptx). Students complete notetaking guide (Notetaking Guide What is Research.docx).
Definition of Original Research (v) to carefully study a subject for the advancement of knowledge - She researched the effect of mothers smoking cigarettes on babies using a health survey at a hospital. (n) the result of a careful study - She published her research in a book. Have students read this aloud. Explain meaning additionally. Allow time to copy the definition (the notetaking guide only has space for the verb definition) and write own examples. Share example sentences with class.
Informal Research In some high school classes, students do library research, meaning: (v) reading or collecting information about something for your own learning - Brandon researched all day, reading many websites and books about birds. (n) the notes and quotes a student finds about their topic - Brandon put all of his research into the paper he wrote for Biology class. Before going to the next slides, ask tables of students to compare and contrast informal and formal research using the venn diagram on their note taking guide. After they complete the venn diagram, ask some students to share. The next slide will help them check their understanding.
Original Research vs. Library Research Different Original: - Discover new information - Add to the knowledge Library: - Don't discover new info - You learn, but do not add new knowledge Similar Read a lot about the topic Write a paper Share what you learned Allow students to check their Venn Diagram against these similarities and differences. Allow for questions. Tell students that the next thing that they're going to do is to evaluate certain "research" projects to see if they are formal or informal.
Original or Library Research? Example 1: Santos wants to know if it is safer to drive or ride the bus in Oakland. He reads a lot of information in websites and books about safety of buses and cars. Then, he compares the rates of injuries on AC transit to the rates of injuries in car accidents for the same time period. He writes a paper and shares the results. Read aloud (or ask a student to read aloud). Have students try this on their own, write their answer and justification on their notetaking guide, and then review together. Answer: This is original research because Santos: - Asked a question - Understood information in a new way - Added to the knowledge about transportation safety
Original or Library Research? Example 2: Valerie wants to study auto mechanics, so she reads a lot of books about how cars work and she visits several auto mechanic shops and training programs. For her internship class, she gives a powerpoint presentation in which she teaches other students about what she learned. Have students try this on their own, write their answer and justification, and then review together. Answer: This is library research because Valerie: - Does not create new knowledge - Is not motivated by a specific question
Original or Library? With your partner, sort the scenarios into 3 groups: Original Research Library Research Not Sure Pass out the scenarios and allow pairs of students 10-15 minutes to read them aloud, sort them, and write a justification on their notetaking sheet.
Discussion/Questions? Share answers in whatever way you like. I like pair-group-share (2 pairs telling each other their opinion and then teacher randomly choosing 1 person to share the groups' thinking with the class). End with a comment that in everyday life, most people will do informal research. They are looking for information to learn more for themselves or people in their lives. In an academic setting and in statistics class, we will be doing formal research where we try to learn something totally new to add to the body of knowledge on a particular topic.
Homework Answer using complete sentences. It will be checked for completeness and two questions will be checked for correctness. Pass out the homework paper and allow students to read through the questions, asking for clarification as needed.
Exit Slip True or false (with explanation): 1. When a person collects information from websites or books and shares that information, the person is doing original research. Pass out post-its or scratch paper for students to write their answers. Collect as they finish. Discuss results tomorrow, if many students are unclear about the meaning of original research.