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Module 4, Lesson 1, Activity 1, Screen 1

Tools for Data Collection

When thinking about tools for data collection, measuring devices like rulers, monitoring equipment, and even surveys might be the tools that come to mind. However, students might have access to many technology-based tools to support data collection.

Review some possible data collection tools and examples of possible uses of the tool.

Mobile phones are one of the most readily-available data collection tools that students have. Applications can be used to collect data while students are inside and outside the classroom.

Examples:

* Set up a Twitter-based food diary and track what you eat through your mobile phone.

* Use the camera function to record key points in an experiment.

Some MP3 players have the ability to record voice memos or can install an inline recorder application to record audio files.

Examples:

* Document observations through voice recordings when viewing eating habits of students.

* Record interviews with veterans.

An Audience Response System (ARS), or handheld voters, collects audience feedback to display results immediately. An ARS typically requires wireless keypads for each audience member, a base station, and response system software.

While most students do not have access to an ARS system, they can access web-based versions that they can use to collect instant feedback using mobile phones or a Web browser.

Examples:

* Confirm audience understanding of key points during a presentation about global warming.

* Record opinions before and after a presentation to monitor a shift in perceptions about candidates in an election.

Online documents and spreadsheets can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer or smartphone to update and track data.

Examples:

* Collect and record physical activity rates and statistics to analyze performance over time.

* Allow focus groups to collaborate and share thoughts in an online document or spreadsheet

to find ideas to combat school bullying.

* Use forms, such as Google Forms, to create surveys to record opinions on what to do with the County’s historical courthouse.

Click Next to continue.


Online Surveys

Online surveys provide students with the opportunity to create professional-looking surveys that can reach a wide range of people. Not only are online surveys easier to administer than paper surveys, but the results can be automatically compiled and displayed graphically.

Explore the features of online surveys.

Once survey questions are developed, create an online survey:

* Use any Internet-connected browser—no software installation required.

* Use survey templates for a professional look.

* Create a variety of question types.

* Make questions required or optional.

Collect responses through a Web link:

* Provide an easy-to-use survey with buttons, drop-down lists, and text boxes.

* Send invitations via e-mail or post the link on a Web site.

* Monitor survey completion online during survey period.

Analyze results:

* View responses online and generate reports instantaneously.

* View all responses tabulated in horizontal bar charts or individual responses.

* Filter and cross-tabulate (glossary term) responses to see patterns and relationships.

* Select different chart types for viewing data.

* Save charts as graphics.

* Download data into a spreadsheet for further analysis.

1. Open Data Collection Tools for a list of online survey sites and audience response systems (Data_Collection_Tools.doc).

2. Click Next to continue.


Survey Strategies

Collecting opinions and data is easy with the advent of online surveys; however, careful preparation is still necessary to ensure useful data is collected.

Understand the preparation necessary for creating an effective survey.

Data Collection Planning

Whether collecting data through the creation of an online survey or collecting data from the Internet, plan before gathering:

* Review your project question(s). What are you trying to discover?

* What actions do you want to take as a result of the survey?

* Visualize all the relevant information that you need. What kind of charts, graphs, or other visual representations will you need to prepare?

* Who is your target audience? What is the best way to reach that specific audience?

(Bhaskaran, n.d.)

Review these online survey design tips.

Introduction:

Create an introduction that explains the purpose of the survey in the context of the project.

Precise, clear, concise:

Make sure questions are easy to understand and can be completed in a reasonable amount of time. Participants are likely to submit incomplete surveys if the survey seems too long or too complicated. If feasible, conduct a trial run of the survey and get feedback.

Provide options:

For questions with multiple-choice options, always include a response such as “Other” or “Does not apply,” so that everyone can respond accurately.

Logical sequence:

* Check that initial questions do not bias the results of questions that follow.

* Typically, ask broader questions first and more specific questions later.

* Ensure that the order of the possible responses is logical and consistent. For instance, if you

ask respondents to select from a scale, make sure the order of the scale is consistent throughout the survey (always from low to high or high to low).

Balanced questions:

Avoid questions that lead to a certain answer.

Well-suited questions:

Consider the type of question that is best suited to meet your needs. Multiple choice questions are the easiest to graph and compare, but you may need some open-ended questions to allow for broader, more qualitative feedback and data.

1. Save Survey Preparation and Design Tips for student use (Survey_Preparation_and_Design_Tips.doc).



Collection Sorting

One way to begin looking at data is through sorting (glossary term), the process of arranging data into a meaningful order so it can be analyzed. Using a spreadsheet, students can quickly sort their data alphabetically, numerically, by date, by format (such as cell color or font color)—or do multiple sorts at once in a particular order, such as first by date and then by name.

Sorted data helps students:

* Visualize and see patterns in the data.

* Identify relationships.

* Make research-based decisions.

* Separate relevant from irrelevant data.

Discover different ways of sorting data and the information that students observed in this initial look at their data.

* Students wanted to see if there were any differences between male and female responses. Since they had three columns of responses for hero quality, they first sorted by the male/female column, and then separately sorted just the quality columns for each gender separately. Because they were sorting just a portion of the data, this particular sort separated the specific respondent and age range from the sorted rows. Sorting in this manner can create a lot of errors, so they deleted the column data that no longer applied. They then saved this sort in a separate file so they would preserve the original data.

* In this sort, students were interested to see if any patterns emerged if the survey data was sorted by age group. They found it interesting that “handsome” only appeared in the younger

age groups and only by female respondents. They also found it interesting that “honesty” was a quality identified only by the over-30 group.

* Students first look at just the overall numbers of the survey as a whole. They enter the total number of each quality selected by a survey respondent. They see that “brave,” “valor,” and “strong” are the top three categories that many of the respondents chose. Over 82% of the respondents in this initial poll selected bravery as an important hero characteristic.



Graphs to Assist with Sorting

Spreadsheets can do more than simply sort data. Viewing numbers as a graph often can help students understand and better appreciate the differences in scale.

Review the overall data summary of hero qualities as a graph.



Spreadsheets for Data Organization

Spreadsheets can be a powerful tool to help organize data so students can begin to think critically about their data collection results. At their most basic level, spreadsheets can:

* Save tremendous amounts of time in calculating formulas and rearranging data

* Organize information whether that information contains numbers, dates, or words

* Display data in a variety of ways through a multitude of charts, graphs, and organizational choices

* Help students visualize the impact of changing number entries since formulas and any associated graphs are immediately recalculated

Explore additional benefits of using electronic spreadsheets.

Benefits of Spreadsheets

* Spreadsheets facilitate a variety of learning styles and methods and readily support an open-ended, problem-oriented investigation in a student-centered project.

* Spreadsheets are interactive, giving immediate feedback.

* Spreadsheets enable data, formulae and graphical output to be available on the screen at once.

* Students have a large measure of control and ownership over their learning by solving complex problems and handling large amounts of data without a need for programming.

(Beare, 1993)



Spreadsheets and the Intel® Education Help Guide

Students and teachers alike can get assistance in using spreadsheets through the interactive Intel® Education Help Guide. This online step-by-step guide has detailed instructions on how to use Microsoft Excel* to sort data, use formulas, create and modify charts and graphs, and change the look of your spreadsheets.

Review an animated demo on how to use the Help Guide.

Note: If the demo does not start automatically, click the forward button at the bottom of the animation screen.

1. Open Help Guide Introduction (Help_Guide_Introduction.doc).


Benefits of Data Visualization

When it comes to displaying data, students have a lot of choices. Research shows that displaying concepts visually improves student learning and performance.

Learn about the benefits of displaying concepts visually.

Displaying concepts visually improves:

* Reading comprehension

* Student achievement across grade levels, diverse student populations, and content areas

* Thinking and learning skills such as organizing and communicating ideas, seeing patterns and relationships, and categorizing ideas

* Retention and recall

* Cognitive learning

(IARE, July 2003)



Visual Literacy

A new world of choices for data display is available for students: from traditional charts to graphs to animated data sets that show change over time symbolically. Data visualization has become an exciting field of study that has been expanded through the use of animations on the Internet and computer-aided graphics. One interactive table shows 98 different ways to present data visually (Periodic Table of Data Visualization). Data visualization, or visual literacy (glossary term), is becoming an essential literacy where students need the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations. Students need guidance and practice with criteria for selecting a visual display appropriate to their purposes.

Review some questions students can consider when deciding how to display data.

Message?

* What am I trying to communicate?

- Is it change over time or a trend?

- Comparing differences and similarities of things or ideas?

- Categorization of data?

- How often something occurs?

- Percentages of a whole?

- A correlation or cause-and-effect relationship?

* What is the clearest visualization that conveys my message to a specific audience?

Type of visual?

* What visual representation type will make the data easiest to understand?

* What visual representation will best represent my message?

Audience?

* Who is my audience?

* Which visual representation will be appropriate for my audience?

Clarity?

* How can I make large data sets, many numbers, or a collection of concepts understandable in a small space?

* What details do I need to include in my visual representation?

Accuracy?

* How do I ensure I am representing data accurately?

* How could the data be misrepresented or misunderstood?



Graph Types

Traditional charts and graphs are useful for comparing numerical data, summarizing results, and showing change over time. Provide tips to help students select and create effective charts and graphs.

Consider the following tips when creating charts and graphs:

* For most graphs, place your independent variable (glossary term) (such as time) on the x-axis (horizontal) and the dependent variable (glossary term)(such as plant growth) on the y-axis (vertical).

* Label the axes of the graphs, including units of measurement.

* If you have more than one set of data, show each series in a different color.

* Include the sources for the data.

* In bar charts, make bars and columns wider than the space between them.

* With pie charts, ensure that the segments are ordered by size (largest to smallest) and in a clockwise direction.

Review common graphs for displaying numerical data.

Line Graph Features

* Compare relationships between two variables and how they relate to each other

* Often uses the y-axis (vertical) to indicate quantity (dollars, units, percentages) and the x-axis (horizontal) to measure time

* Can show a change in direction and trends in different groups of the same type.

Bar Graph Features

* Compare categories and groups of data

* Represent quantitative and qualitative data

* Show frequency of each element in a set of data

* Best used for less than 10 items

* Use horizontal bars to provide more room for text labels

* Use columns to illustrate a change in magnitude or frequency

Pie Chart Features

* Used to compare parts of a whole, percentages of a total, or summary of a set of data organized by categories that have no natural order

* Can be used for both quantitative and qualitative data

* Best for displaying no more than six segments

* Can label segments with actual values or percentages

Scatter Plot Features

* Used to show measurements of two or more related variables

* Useful for seeing trends in a large group of data points and finding outliers (data points that do not seem to belong)

Stacked Bar Graph Features

* Compare different groups while showing subgroups

* Best for a graph with just a few groups of data

Pictograph Features

* Used to convey the meaning of statistical information in a simplified fashion, like stickers on a chart (for elementary students)

* Can be used to symbolize data in a dramatic way, such as a size change of an image to represent changing data values

1. Save Data Display Checklist for tips on selecting and creating charts and graphs (Data_Display_Checklist.doc).



Histograms and Boxplots

While not as familiar to students, histograms (glossary term) and boxplots (glossary term) can be used together to create a more complete summary of a particular set of data. A histogram shows how frequently certain numbers occur in a set of data to illustrate how the data is distributed. Boxplots summarize a specific variable’s location and spread at a glance. Boxplots display a five-number data summary: the median (glossary term), quartiles (glossary term), and the minimum and maximum range of the data.

Learn about the features of the graph.

Boxplot Features

* A boxplot can be drawn vertically or horizontally, and is also known as a box and whisker plot.

* The box contains the middle 50% of the data.

* The line in the box indicates the median (glossary term) value of the data.

* The lines on either side of the box indicate the range of 25% of the data at the upper and lower ends of the range.

* Any points outside the ends of the lines (or whiskers) are suspected outliers (glossary term).

Histogram Features

* A histogram divides the range of possible values into specific groups or “bins”—either for continuous data (like salary ranges) that can take any variables in a range, or discrete data (like number of goals) that can only take certain numbers within a range.

* A histogram counts how many times data falls in the range of each bin.

* The group columns, or bins, are plotted on the x-axis (horizontal), and the frequency is plotted on the y-axis (vertical).

* Bins that represent continuous data should touch to indicate grouped numbers and form a continuous range of data from left to right.



Data Analysis

When analyzing quantitative data, students can use spreadsheets to organize and then display data in different visual formats for better analysis. For qualitative data, students often need to code (glossary term) the data, count words or phrases, create flowcharts, mark video, or summarize the data in some fashion. Qualitative analysis can begin almost along with data collection to record impressions, patterns, and tentative interpretations during this ongoing

and cyclic analysis process.

Review some data analysis needed for various projects:

Social Studies—Students create a graph to track a country’s population data alongside nutritional requirements to support that population

Mathematics—Students create a bar chart to compare pizza companies to include cost per square inch, and code the comments of the taste tests to indicate results on the same chart.

Earth Science—Students create a line chart to track temperature and rain fall over time.

Language Arts—Students categorize hero qualities according to their survey and create a bar chart to help them develop their own hero story.

Now review information about data that falls outside of the norm.

An outlier is an observation that lies an abnormal distance from other values in a random sample from a population. Outliers often contain valuable information about the investigation process, or data gathering and recording process. Often, outliers are simply bad data points. Before removing outliers from data, however, students should review to understand why the outliers appeared and whether it is likely similar values will continue to appear (NIST/SEMATECH, June 2010).

1. Open Data Analysis Resources to locate resources to help with quantitative and qualitative data analysis (Data_Analysis_Resources.doc).



Check Your Graph Design

When creating a graph, which of the following are good design tips to follow for effective and understandable data display?

Select all that apply, and then click Submit.

a. Place your independent variable (such as time) on the y-axis and the dependent variable (such as population growth) on the x-axis.

b. If you have more than one data set, show each series in a different color.

c. In bar charts, make bars and columns wider than the space between them.

d. With pie charts, ensure that the segments are ordered by size (largest to smallest) and in a clockwise direction.

e. On graphs, label the axes, including units of measurement.

Correct! Using different colors, creating wider bars and columns, ordering pie chart segments

by size, and labeling graphs are all important design tips. However, the independent variable should go on the x-axis and the dependent variable should go on the y-axis.



Teachers Discuss Display Options

Holly and Isaac discuss other ways to display data besides typical charts and graphs.

Follow Holly and Isaac’s discussion:

Isaac: My students are getting pretty good at creating appropriate charts and graphs, but I’m trying to find other ways that they could present their data.

Holly: Is that because you’re looking for more interpretation?

Isaac: Exactly. My students make accurate statements about individual bar chart results, but they have a hard time drawing big-picture conclusions.

Holly: Well, given that your project is about immigration, how about doing something with a map that depicts immigration patterns?

Isaac : Good idea. Maybe they could make a chart of immigrant concentrations and then color code a map to visually see where most immigrants settled.



Options for Data Visualization

Different visual displays serve different functions and support specific purposes that help with interpretations and conclusions. Both qualitative and quantitative data can be represented by a variety of visuals beyond typical charts and graphs.

Learn how visuals can be used to represent data. Review some examples of conceptual displays of data.

Concept Maps

A concept map represents information in connected segments that identify ideas and relationships. Through concept maps, students generate and organize data to see how ideas and information are connected and can be grouped in different ways.(Source: Inspiration*)

Flowcharts

Flowcharts visually illustrate how a process works by breaking it down into steps. Flowcharts can help people understand complex projects or processes. Students can also use flow charts to identify and compare relationships between people, data, processes, and objects.(Source: Inspiration*)

Cause-and-Effect Maps

Cause-and-effect maps visually show the factors and relationships in a cause-and-effect investigation. These maps make thinking visible to help students refine their understanding of data.

Venn Diagrams

Venn diagrams are a series of circles or other shapes that overlap to show similarities and differences among topics, things, or ideas. Shared characteristics are shown in the overlapping sections, allowing for easy identification of which characteristics are shared and which are not. When students have classified the similarities and differences, they can analyze the visual representation of their understanding to draw conclusions.

Annotated Photographs or Graphics

Students can annotate photographs or graphics to analyze change over time, identify data associated with specific items in the pictures, or make comparisons. Students can also compile and combine photographs into a single resource to analyze trends.

Choropleth Maps

A choropleth map is a thematic map that shades geographical areas according to statistics for each area, using shades of increasing color value to portray and compare measures of intensity. Choropleth maps are very effective in creating a mental impression of

* The spatial pattern of statistical information

* The distribution of data patterns across a geographic area

* The level of variability in a region.

(Harvard University, n.d.)

Animations

Animated and interactive graphics can display statistical data over time, such as Gapminder.com*, which displays global development trends with animated statistics.


Design Guidelines

When displaying data, use:

* Tables for structured numerical information

* Graphs to indicate trends, make comparisons, or show relationships

* Other visual representations for conceptual ideas—such as annotated photographs, concept maps, or Venn diagrams—as appropriate

Understand the two main design components students should consider when displaying data.

Impact

Overall impression and effect:

* What will be the audience’s impression of the visualization?

* What kind of impact will it have on the audience?

Accuracy

Representation of the data:

* How well does the visualization represent and display the data?

* Will the audience be able to infer the actual data values by viewing the visual representation?



Poor Data Display

While technology gives more choice and flexibility in display, it can also increase the possibility of a confusing message. If students’ design choices are poor, audiences may have difficulty understanding the data.

Explore ideas on how to represent data more clearly to avoid creating poorly designed graphs.

* The number of categories in a graph should be limited to help focus and clarify the message.

* A graph should be self-explanatory. All parts of the graph should be clearly identified.

* Unnecessary design frills, such as three-dimension or shapes that have no meaning, should be avoided. They can be distracting and hide data trends.

* Complex data is easier to compare on stacked bar charts than on pie charts.

* Color should be used to help distinguish categories. Distracting patterns and dark backgrounds should be avoided.

* If relationships and patterns are to be identified on a map, color intensities could

correspond to the high and low data values.



Misrepresentation

Misrepresentations of data occur at all levels, from the classroom to the newspaper to government agencies. Several common errors can be recognized that distort or obscure accuracy and meaning of data. When students represent data visually, one of the most important aspects is maintaining the data’s meaning.

Review some common errors in representing data and examples of improved representations of the data.

Exaggerated differences

Axes in charts and graphs should start or include zero; otherwise, small differences can appear to be more significant than they are.

This chart starts at 59.5% on the y-axis. Putting data into perspective is difficult if only a portion of the scale is shown.

Better Representation

Unrepresented change

For bar charts, the base of the bars need to be set at zero (not the lowest value), so the positive and negative values can be clearly identified.

This line chart starts with a -20 on the y-axis, which both exaggerates and under-represents changes in the values.


Misrepresenting scale

Graphics or nonstandard chart depictions must not distort a comparison and give the impression that a difference in value is greater or lesser than it actually is. Similarly, bar charts should use the same width for each category or viewers may think that something beyond the value change is different between the categories.

The overall size of the fish makes the change in quantity appear much greater than three times the measurement two months before. Although the height of the fish falls in the general area of the correct number on the y-axis, the overall size makes the viewer assume a greater increase.


Misrepresenting trends

Trends require more than a few data points. Line charts should show a significant number of data points to create a path of meaningful change over time.

This line chart shows only three points. When only a few data points are shown, small changes may seem more significant than they are. Show more data points or, if only a few points are available, use a bar graph for a better representation.


Bar chart masquerading as a line chart

When the x-axis contains only qualitative variables, a bar graph should be used.

This line chart actually represents the top points of a bar chart. Using a line chart gives the impression that the data is ordered in some way or depicts change over time.




Spreadsheets for Analysis

Experimenting with different types of charts opens up possibilities for drawing conclusions about the meaning of data.

Explore how different visual displays prompt three students’ critical thinking.

Student 1: This is pretty interesting. It looks like about the same number of boys and girls almost always or often eat the right amount of vegetables every day. That’s kind of surprising because I would have predicted that they didn’t get enough. Maybe they’re counting potato chips as vegetables!

Student 2: This chart looks like the food group that most of the students say they get the required amount of is fats and oils. That’s not surprising based on the amount of fried food we discovered students eat in the cafeteria. The chart doesn’t show us, though, if they’re eating too much fat.

Student 3: From this chart it looks like the statement that most students agree most strongly with is that they eat too much junk food. I think this chart is kind of confusing, though. Let’s try a different kind of chart to see if we can find another pattern in our data.



Online Data Presentation Tools

Many online tools allow students to upload their data to create interesting and dramatic visual displays. These tools can accommodate different kinds of data, including numbers, words and phrases, relationships, and geographic locations.

Explore types of online tools for creating visual display of data.

Many Eyes

The Many Eyes* application includes many forms of visual display, including Phrase Net. With this program, users can define a pattern of words, such as words in direct succession, and create a map of the connections. Many Eyes can also be used to create displays such as:

* Network diagrams

* Treemaps

* Word trees

* Cloud tags

* Matrix charts

* Bubble charts

Google Public Data Explorer

The Google Public Data Explorer* makes datasets from dozens of public organizations available for users to select, sort, and turn into charts or graphs. Tools allow users to change the chart colors and selections. By using the time feature, users can watch how the data displayed in the chart changes over time.

Wordle

From a list of words entered, Wordle* creates a graphical representation of those words (called word clouds ), emphasizing words that appear more often. The font style and color of the Wordle can be modified in several ways.

Tableau Public

Tableau Public* is free software that allows users to upload their own data and create different kinds of displays, such as charts, graphs, and maps. The application provides tutorials and help, and includes numerous tools and features that can be manipulated to create interactive data displays. Drag-and-drop features allow users to customize the display in different ways.

1. Open Sources for Visualizing Data for more information about online tools for displaying and visualizing data (Sources_for_Visualizing_Data.doc).



Intel® Education Thinking Tools

Students can use Intel® Education thinking tools to display and analyze data. You will learn more about the Showing Evidence Tool in Lesson 4

Review some online thinking tools and project examples on how the tool could be used in a project.

Visual Ranking

The Visual Ranking Tool brings focus to the thinking behind making ordered lists. Students identify and refine criteria as they assign order or ranking to a list.

Visual Ranking Example: Grow a Business

Fourth-grade students develop business acumen by marketing flowers for Mother's Day. Students conduct market research, determine product potential, seek funding, and market and sell their product. They survey schoolmates to determine flower popularity, and use their knowledge of market price and profitability to "grow a business" and reach their sales goal. The Visual Ranking Tool helps students set priorities, debate differences, and make correlations in order to reach consensus about which flowers to sell.

Seeing Reason

With the Seeing Reason Tool, students create visual maps of the factors and relationships in a cause-and-effect investigation.

Seeing Reason Example: Road Safety

In this study, students focus on a local problem: traffic accidents in their community. After the teacher sets the stage with compelling news articles about road accidents and statistics, students turn their suppositions about the causes of accidents into research questions. With help of the Seeing Reason Tool, they think through the complex factors that influence safety, from congested streets to driving habits to traffic patterns. They study, represent their understanding in causal maps, and ultimately write an "action plan" that makes a case for why accidents occur and how to avoid them.

Showing Evidence

The Showing Evidence Tool helps students learn how to construct well-reasoned arguments and prove their case with credible evidence.

Showing Evidence Example: Personal Identity

Students analyze Jerry's character in the short story "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing, and determine whether he acts in a childish or adult manner. Using the Showing Evidence Tool, they make a claim about Jerry's behavior and collect data from the text to support that claim. Students use their project work from the tool to participate in an informal debate and then individually reflect on challenges in their own lives.

1. Open Intel Education Thinking Tools to read about the tools, resources available to support their use (such as unit plans), and links to the tools (Intel_Education_Thinking_Tools.doc).


Argument Displays

Arguments, which can be informal or formal, involve persuading others of the validity and reasonableness of recommendations. Good data and clear thinking are the building blocks of an argument. Diagrams can be part of the critical thinking process to help students clarify their thinking. They can also be used when students share their conclusions to illustrate the strength of their argument.

Explore some explanations of different argument displays.

Pros and Cons T-Chart

The simplest way to display both sides of an argument is with parallel lists of pros and cons. Visually, the side with the most evidence has more items and appears more substantive. Such a simple list can be deceiving, however, for all items of evidence are not equal in importance or persuasiveness. Adding features to a simple T-chart, such as colors and sizes of boxes can create a more realistic view of an argument.

Argument Map

More formal arguments can be formed using a map that identifies reasons and evidence, and shows how they are connected. These maps can range from the very simple, with one piece of evidence and one conclusion, to extremely complex maps, with secondary evidence and multiple conclusions. As with the T-chart, the quality of the evidence is not reflected in a simple map but can be reflected by manipulating the appearance of the components of the chart.



Teachers Discuss Showing

Holly and Isaac discuss supporting student argumentation with the Showing Evidence Tool.

Follow Holly and Isaac’s discussion:

Holly: I’ve been thinking about how I might use Showing Evidence with my nutrition project. I used it before with an earth science unit on space exploration, and it really helped focus students on the quality of their arguments.

Isaac: It’s a great tool to help students justify their conclusions and recommendations. I can

see how Showing Evidence would be a natural fit for my immigration unit as well. It would really inform discussions on immigration issues.

Holly: Yes, students always have an opinion, but having to defend their claims with evidence really makes them think.

Isaac: I especially like how they have to rank the quality of their evidence. That’s an important skill.

Holly: Plus they can look at each other’s ideas and make comments. I think Showing Evidence would work great for both of our projects.



Showing Evidence Features

The Showing Evidence Tool provides a scaffold to support students as they create a claim, and then support or refute it with appropriate evidence. When an argument is complicated, the components of the tool help students think through justifying a claim.

Review the features of an argumentation map in Showing Evidence.

* Support claim with evidence—Evidence that supports the claim is linked to the claim in the green area.

* Identify evidence that counters claim—Evidence that weakens the claim is linked to the claim in the red area.

* Rate quality of evidence—The checkmarks indicate the quality of the evidence and the team’s evaluation of the reliability of the source.

* Rate evidence’s support—When a piece of evidence is attached to a claim, students rate how strongly the evidence either supports or weakens the claim, along with their reasoning.

* Determine validity of claim—After all evidence has been evaluated, students determine whether the claim is valid, explain their reasoning, and provide an overall rating of how well all the evidence supports the claim.

* Give feedback—A colored triangle means a comment has been left by a member of the student team, the teacher, or the reviewing team.

* Elaborate thinking—Double-click an evidence item to view a detailed description, the quality rating of the evidence, and the sources of the evidence.



Sample Showing Evidence Cases

Showing Evidence gives students at all grade levels a structure for forming arguments and analyzing the quality of their evidence.

Explore sample projects using the Showing Evidence Tool.

Does everything have its place?

Oobleck

Primary students collect data on a mystery substance to determine its physical properties and categorize what type of matter it is. They use the simplified version of Showing Evidence to present their claim and provide evidence to support it.

Is being bad for a good reason ever OK?

Jack and the Beanstalk: Can a Thief Be a Hero?

Students read and discuss the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk . They find evidence in the story to decide whether Jack should be deemed a hero. Using the Showing Evidence Tool to structure their support, students write a persuasive essay to answer the question of Jack’s heroism.

What is freedom?

Freedom in the Modern World

Students analyze and draw conclusions from primary and secondary sources to explore the concept of personal freedom. Using Showing Evidence, students create claims and find supporting evidence to answer the question: Should a government place limits on the freedoms of its citizens?

How did we get here from there?

Turning Points in History

Students use primary and secondary sources to research important turning points in European history, and choose the three they believe are most important. They use the Showing Evidence Tool to provide strong evidence to support their claims. Finally, students narrow down the list of turning points to the top two claims and participate in a mock trial.



A Showing Evidence Project

Holly wants to use Showing Evidence as part of her nutrition unit, Food for Thought, to help

her students think through the conclusions they draw from their data.

Review Holly’s thoughts to see samples of her planning for her Showing Evidence project.

What project needs could the tool meet?

Project Needs

To create their proposals, students need to set up an argument and use evidence to support their ideas. The tool can help students be systematic in thinking critically about their ideas before they finalize their presentations.

What prompt will I use?

Project Prompt

Students can respond to a direct prompt, such as “Should the driving age be raised?” or to a more general prompt that allows students to compose their own questions. Holly has decided to pose a general question and ask students to create their own research questions. How can we improve the eating habits of students?

What critical thinking skills will I teach?

Critical Thinking Skills

While students are working on their argument maps, they will receive instruction in the following critical thinking skills:

* Stating a claim

* Understanding what counts as evidence

* Determining the credibility of evidence

* Making decisions based on evidence

How will I use the map to assess student learning?

Showing Evidence Assessment (excerpt)

Thoroughness of Evidence

3: Map shows extensive evidence from a variety of well-balanced sources.

2: Map shows evidence from a variety of sources.

1: Map shows very little evidence from limited sources.

Ranking of Evidence

3: Explanations thoroughly justify evidence rankings with extensive support and the use of correct terminology.

2: Explanations support evidence rankings with correct terminology.

1: Explanations describe tangential or irrelevant reasons for supporting ranking of evidence.

1. Save Showing Evidence Tips for more information on using the tool (Showing_Evidence_Tips.doc).



Holly’s Showing Evidence Project

Holly uses Showing Evidence to help her students form good arguments about how best to improve students’ eating habits. She creates the project by logging on to her teacher workspace and setting up the project for her students.

Learn how Holly prepares her project and her students begin their work.

Teacher creates project

First, Holly named and described her project, Food for Thought, and set up a question to prompt her students’ arguments: How can we improve the eating habits of students? Since her students had some experience with supporting arguments, she chose the Standard version of the tool.

Teacher sets up teams

Holly created heterogeneous teams of 4 or 5 students, and set up team passwords. She gave her students her Teacher ID, their Team IDs, and their Team Passwords, which they needed to access their student workspaces.

Students create claim

Team 3 begins work on their case by creating and explaining their claim.

Your Claim: The school needs to offer healthy food that tastes good instead of junk food.

Your Explanation: We think that students eat junk food because they can’t get nutritious food that tastes good at school. If good-tasting nutritious food were offered, we think student eating habits would improve.

Students add and rate evidence

Next, they created a piece of evidence and rated its quality:

Evidence Summary: Students eat lots of low-nutritional (junk) foods every day.

Explanation: We found that 85% of students eat some kind of junk food every day, and 42%

eat junk food 2 or more times a day.

Source: Student eating logs

Rating Rationale: We rated this evidence at three stars because we think this evidence is fairly accurate.

We spot-checked student logs with our own observation surveys, but students might still have under- or over-reported their eating of junk food.

Students consider evidence support

The team members discuss whether the evidence supports or weakens their claim. They decide that it may weaken their claim and drag the evidence to the red area of the claim:

Reasoning: If such a high percentage of students eat junk food every day, it might be difficult to change their eating habits. However, we don’t think it hurts our claim very much, so we only rated it a 2.

Teacher and students make comments

After students add and rate the evidence they collected, they explore the case of their assigned review team and make comments. Holly reviews the cases of all the teams at various stages of completion and leaves questions and comments for the teams.



Summary

Review the main points from Module 4: Tools for Effective Data Analysis. In this module, you learned that:

* Different types of visual representations are best used to display certain types of data.

* Students can use a variety of collection tools, including mobile phones, MP3 players, and web-based and Audience Response System surveys.

* Effective surveys should have a clear introduction, be precise, use a logical sequence with well-suited and balanced questions, and include answers so everyone can answer accurately.

* The Intel® Education Showing Evidence Tool is a useful resource for both displaying and analyzing data for the purposes of building an evidence-based claim.

Click Next to check your understanding by answering the following five questions.


Module 4 Quiz—Question 1

Charts and graphs are useful for comparing a variety of data. What types of data are bar charts useful for displaying?

Choose all that apply, and then click Submit.

a. Bar charts are useful for:

b. Comparing different groups and data

c. Displaying data from 10 items or less

d. Revealing a change in magnitude

e. Comparing parts of a whole

Identifying the frequency of occurrence for each element in a set of data

Correct! Bar charts are useful for comparing 10 or less items of different groups and data to identify change in magnitude or frequency, but pie charts compare parts of a whole better than bar charts.




What is an outlier?

Choose your answer, and then click Submit.

a. A special graph that shows how frequently certain numbers occur in a set of data

b. An observation that lies an abnormal distance from other values in a sample

c. A survey recipient who is outside the targeted audience demographics

d. The area of a boxplot that is outside the middle 50% of the data

e. An item that falls outside of the shapes in a Venn diagram

Correct! An outlier is a data point that lies an abnormal distance from other values in a sample.




A student team presents a proposal at a city council meeting and wants to collect opinions from attendees. What tools could students use to best collect their data?


a. A short, web-based audience response survey that can be submitted by mobile phone

b. An online survey that audience members take when they get home

c. A quick, verbal exit poll of a proportion of attendees with answers annotated on paper or recorded on an MP3 player or mobile phone with audio recording

d. A follow-up e-mail to council members with a link to a short online survey

Correct! Many of the audience would have mobile phones and could send text responses to a few questions, a quick verbal exit poll could collect a portion of the opinions, and an online survey could be taken by council members. Expecting participants to remember to take an online poll when they get home is unrealistic.




When displaying data in a chart or graph, the data needs to be presented carefully to represent the data accurately. Why should charts and graphs always start with zero on the y-axis?


a. If a chart does not start with zero on the axis, small differences can appear to be more significant than they are.

b. When creating a line chart that does not start with zero on the axis, it gives the impression that the data is not listed in a categorical order.

c. When creating bar charts, using zero as the base allows for clear identification of positive and negative values.

d. Starting with a number other than zero on an axis will make a trend difficult to see.

Correct! A zero on the axis allows for clear identification of positive and negative values, as well appropriate depictions of change in values.




What are the two main design components that students should consider when displaying data?

Choose two answers, and then click Submit.

a. Impact: Overall impression and effect on the audience

b. Accuracy : Best representation of the data for clear understanding

c. Color: Contrasting or appropriately valued color

d. Labels: Labeling all axes, graph elements, and units of measurements

Correct! Although all topics noted are important to consider when displaying data, the two most important aspects are impact and accuracy.



Your Assessment Results

You scored __ % on the Module 4 quiz.

You have completed Module 4.

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