Introduction to CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) Focus: Building the bridge between claim and evidence with reasoning (logical thought)

Preamble- Courtroom Drama You are about to see a clip from the movie My Cousin Vinny The movie is about two men who are accused of robbing a store and killing the clerk in a small town in Alabama Their cousin Vinny is their defense lawyer who has to PROVE that they did not commit the crime One of the largest pieces of EVIDENCE is a photograph of tire marks from the crime scene that allegedly matches the exact same car the two men in question drive In the scene Vinny is questioning his girlfriend who is a car expert My Cousin Vinny Court Scene Debrief: What did you notice about her testimony? How did she help prove that the tire marks were not from the car the two accused men were driving?

Building The Bridge in CER- REASONING

What Does This Look Like in the Real World… How do we learn about the world around us? First hand experience What other people tell us Observations Experimentation Consider this… What conclusions can we draw from observations? A carpenter, a school teacher, and scientist were traveling by train through Scotland when they saw a black sheep through the window of the train. “Aha,” said the carpenter with a smile. “I see that Scottish sheep are black.” “Hmm,” said the school teacher. “You mean that some Scottish sheep are black.” “No,” said the scientist glumly. “All we know is that there is at least one sheep in Scotland, and that at least one side of that one sheep is black.”

Data, Evidence, & Claims What do observations and experimentation provide us? Data and Evidence What can one do with data? Draw conclusions Make predictions What is a claim? A statement of something as a fact; an assertion of truth. (TheFreeDictionary.com)

Consider the Following Claims… In the United States… More than twice as many males die in motor vehicle crashes than females. More fatal motor vehicle crashes occur during the night time. More fatal motor vehicle crashes occur when it’s raining than when it’s snowing or sleeting. A majority of fatal motor vehicle crashes occur when the weather is “normal” outside. Fewer older people die in motor vehicle crashes than younger people. Take the next 1 min to discuss which ones are the most and least believable Take the next 1 min to discuss why do you think that Bringing these out to the floor…

What if you add data/evidence to claims... The claims listed above are related to real data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Here is the data: FARS from NHTSA Now with your partner, are the claims mentioned earlier supported by the evidence presented by the FARS from the NHTSA? Discuss why or why not? What is missing between the claim and evidence?... REASONING – this is the explanation WHY or BECAUSE that makes the claim stronger

Practice Claims and Evidence… We are going to practice analyzing data and evidence and making claims You are looking at data from the CDC (Center For Disease Control) and a report from 2008 Deaths- Leading Causes for 2008 Instructions: You will be working with your partner Review the data presented from the CDC You are going to make 5 claims using a T Chart format For each claim you must provide evidence to support your claim Questions, concerns, thoughts prayers? Claim Evidence

Some tips on your claims… The claims can indicate difference in and between demographic categories. Then number of deaths in each demographic group varies.  It is therefore important to use percentages as opposed to numbers of individuals. Claims should be clearly supported by the data.  Indicating differences between demographics is sufficient.  Do not offer suggestions as to why the differences exist.

The Reasoning Aspect… Now, with your partner, select ONE of your five claims and practice coming up with reasoning/explanation/why-how your claim and evidence are connected Take the next 5 mins to practice… Debrief of this process… What do you need to know/have to come up with GOOD reasoning? What is difficult about this process? What support do you need to be able to handle this for research process?