Data Informed Lessons and Alternate Assessments

As a math teacher, I have a tendency to fall into the pattern of giving more traditional style tests and "pass offs". The standards are phrased in such a way that the easiest way to asses them is by asking students to solve math problems. This isn't always the BEST way to asses the standards but it is more straightforward. I could definitely grow my practice by increasing the variety in types and styles of assessment.

This semester in my AP stat class, I am trying a new assessment to close out our unit on hypothesis testing. One thing that the students need to be able to do is determine which type of inference method to use when presented with a set of data. One possible way to make this decision is with a flow chart. With this in mind, along with my goal is introducing alternative forms of assessment, I constructed a mini project in which students will create their own flowcharts for use in deciding which test to use. Along with each hypothesis test, they will also provide a "fact sheet" that gives details about how to implement that hypothesis test. I'm excited to try something new.

Now, here's where the science and the use of data came into my planning.

1. Graphic organizers are proven to be extreme effective tools in helping students understand skills and complex processes. They are particularly useful to students with learning disabilities. Flow charts are one form of graphic organizer.

2. Categorizing is one of the most important aspects of analyzing information. The process of creating a flow chart forces students to use these higher order thinking skills.

3. Circling back is one of the most important strategies we can use as teachers. Students need to constantly review and recontextualize material that they have already explored in order to be able to transfer that knowledge. As we were working, one of my students told me, "I feel like I'm learning this all for the first time." At first, I was disappointed that she couldn't remember so much of the material that had already been assessed, despite having done well on those assessments but then I had a beautiful AHA moment: this is exactly why we are doing this assignment. We are reviewing, we are re-learning and we are making connections. The same material looks new in this context because we are putting the pieces together. This realization made me proud of the assignment.

I also framed the lesson in such a way that used the "circling back" idea. More on that soon.

4. In my framing of the lesson I tried to connect the material to something they already knew on a personal and applicable level. More on this in a moment.

5. Voice and Choice! I gave the students free reign over their end product; the only requirements being that it is a flowchart and they include the fact sheets. I gave them a few ideas: poster, flip chart, "choose your own adventure" book, digital quiz, etc. I also let them choose how they would split up the roles within their group of three. They had to write a group contract outlining who would do what and by when.

These are the planning goal sheets for a few of the groups.

OK, so something that worked really well was the framing of the lesson. As I mentioned, I kept two really important things in mind: circling back to old material and drawing on something familiar. I was really pleased with the way this worked out.

For the "Do Now" I asked the students to sit in the groups of three that I had assigned. I tasked them with trying to figure out what method I used to randomly assign the groups. The concept of random assignment was one we discussed in November in our unit on experimental design. Then, I used a random number generator to randomly call on students to share. This was a good way to break the ice within the groups and it got them thinking about old material that we hadn't seen in a while. It also created buy in because it convinced them that the groups were random. We discussed all different methods, and the benefits of some versus others. The method I used was to assign each student a number and use a random number generator to create a list. I drew groups of three from that list sequentially, skipping any repeats. The students came up with this method but sometimes needed help with the wording. I showed them my list and the data and they constructed the groups themselves to check me. We also talked about the "names in a hat" technique and a technique which wouldn't necessarily work: randomly numbering the groups and then going up to each student and using a random number generator to assign them a group. They quickly saw that we would end up with groups that are guaranteed to have size three. This was a great review and great discussion. It seemed like it set the students up to take more risks and think creatively.

Next, I introduced the project. Knowing that most of my students are international and do not have english as their primary language, I committed to spending some time making sure that everyone understood the definition of a flow chart. I put this up on the board:

and I had the students take turns asking and answering the questions. Then we brainstormed properties of flow charts (directed, clear and concise questions, unique vs. non unique paths to an endpoint etc.) This discussion brought up a lot of good ideas. With one of my classes we had even more fun and walked through the tinder flowchart: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/flowcharts/should-you-swipe-right-on-tinder with a student who wasn't embarrassed to admit to using tinder that morning. This got the class warmed up and they had fun with it.

Finally, we did the "boring part" of discussing the logistics of the project but because my kids were "with me" they were able to maintain their attention for longer than usual. After that, they just worked in their groups while I circulated. I asked them to start off by creating a plan:

1. Who is in your group?

2. What will be the format of your final product?

3. Who will be responsible for what aspects?

4. What will have done by the end of today's class? Tuesday's class? Thursday's class?

The rest of the class period was amazingly productive. I circulated constantly and answered questions at all different levels. We used examples of data to test out their draft flowcharts. We reinforced some of the major differences between the hypothesis tests and perhaps coolest, the students discovered some tech tools for creating flowcharts that I didn't even know about.

So, in a nutshell, day one was a success and I wanted to share it. I'm looking to see how the projects turn out!

Dexter, D. D., Park, Y. J., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). A meta‐analytic review of graphic organizers and science instruction for adolescents with learning disabilities: Implications for the intermediate and secondary science classroom. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 26(4), 204-213. PDF

Douglas, K. H., Ayres, K. M., Langone, J., & Bramlett, V. B. (2011). The effectiveness of electronic text and pictorial graphic organizers to improve comprehension related to functional skills. Journal of Special Education Technology, 26(1), 43-56. PDF