"The way to do research is to attack the facts at the point of greatest astonishment."
--Celia Green, The Decline and Fall of Science, Hamish Hamilton (1976), p. 1.
Equipment
Cuesta ThinkPad laptops (wireless networking, internet browser)
(appropriate, responsible in-class use of personal laptops allowed)
Current Events Quiz
(First 10 minutes of laboratory.)
Briefing
Assessment Case Studies (*.blog)
Big Idea
Designing a fruitful plan for conducting research has many pitfalls. By assessing the research reports of others, scientists can improve their own ability to design attractive research plans. With better research design, researchers can improve the support for the claims they make with better and better evidence.
Goal
Students will assess a series of research reports and then select one project to redesign and conduct in order to more productively pursue the original research question.
Tasks
(Record your lab partners' names on your worksheet.)
Assess three research projects similar to those you have already completed. Work on only one research report at a time. Answer each of the research report assessment questions by selecting "yes," "maybe," or "no," and then provide a short, but detailed, explanation of your reasoning citing specific information from the provided research reports. Later you will redesign/improve/conduct one of these research projects, and then do a self-assessment of your work.
1. Research Report: Monitoring the Moving Constellations
(Read this research report, then answer the assessment questions for this report below.)
- Specific Research Question:
"How does the position of the constellation Orion at sunset change position for different seasons?"
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Use heavens-above.com to make observations:
- Chose a day of the month to observe.
- On each observation day, just after the sunset determine if Orion is visible and determine in which part of the sky it is located.
- Repeat the observation once a month for a year.
- Data Table and/or Results:
| Date (2009-2010): | Visible: | Location: |
| April 1 | yes | high SW sky |
| May 1 | yes | low W sky |
| June 1 | no | (n/a) |
| July 1 | no | (n/a) |
| August 1 | no | (n/a) |
| September 1 | no | (n/a) |
| October 1 | no | (n/a) |
| November 1 | no | (n/a) |
| December 1 | no | (n/a) |
| January 1 | yes | low E sky |
| February 1 | yes | high SE sky |
| March 1 | yes | high S sky |
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
From the evidence above, we can see that the constellation Orion appears to move from low in the eastern sky to low in the western sky from January to May.
Assessment of Research Report 1
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Was the plan presented going to yield the necessary evidence needed to fully answer the listed research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Data Table and/or Results:
Has enough evidence been collected for this specific research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
- In their conclusion, have they claimed more than the evidence supports? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Have assumptions impacted their results? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Does the conclusion directly answer the original research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
2. Research Report: Observing the Sun's Position and Motion
(Read this research report, then answer the assessment questions for this report below.)
- Specific Research Question:
"Over the course of a year, how does the amount of sunlight at the equator compare to that of Laramie, WY?"
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Use heavens-above.com to make observations:
- Choose a number of days over the course of a year to make observations.
- Observe and record the sunrise and sunset times on each of the observation days in Laramie, WY and at the equator.
- Use the sunrise and sunset times to calculate the total amount of daylight on each of the observation days and at both locations.
- Data Table and/or Results:
(Mountain Standard Time)
Date
(2009): |
Laramie
Sunrise: |
Laramie
Sunset: |
Laramie
Daylight: |
Equator
Sunrise: |
Equator
Sunset: |
Equator
Daylight: |
| March 8 | 6:25 AM | 5:50 PM | 11h 35m | 6:10 AM | 6:08 PM | 11h 58m |
| March 15 | 6:15 AM | 6:00 PM | 11h 45m | 6:09 AM | 6:06 PM | 11h 57m |
| March 22 | 6:00 AM | 6:05 PM | 12h 05m | 6:08 AM | 6:04 PM | 11h 56m |
| March 29 | 5:50 AM | 6:15 PM | 12h 25m | 6:05 AM | 6:02 PM | 11h 57m |
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
Over the course of a year, the sun rises earlier and sets later in the summer than in winter in Laramie, WY, so there is more daylight in summer and less in winter. The equator does not experience seasons so there is no change in the amount of daylight as the year progresses.
Assessment of Research Report 2
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Was the plan presented going to yield the necessary evidence needed to fully answer the listed research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Data Table and/or Results:
Has enough evidence been collected for this specific research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
- In their conclusion, have they claimed more than the evidence supports? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Have assumptions impacted their results? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Does the conclusion directly answer the original research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
3. Research Report: Monitoring the Zodiac Constellations
(Read this research report, then answer the assessment questions for this report below.)
- Specific Research Question:
"Does the altitude of the line of the zodiac constellations through the sky change over the course of a year in the same way as the path of the sun? That is, at night does it make its highest path across the sky in the summer, and its lowest path in the winter?"
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Use heavens-above.com to make observations:
- Choose a day of the month to observe the zodiac.
- Each month, right after sunset, record the direction and time the zodiac is rising.
- For clarity, label directions as; northeast, NE; east-northeast, ENE; east, E; east-southeast, ESE; etc.
- Data Table and/or Results:
(Date: day of the year for observation for Laramie, WY)
(Time: Mountain Standard Time right after sunset)
(Direction: where on the horizon where zodiac was rising)
| Date: | Time: | Direction: |
| January 15 | 5:00 PM | ENE |
| February 15 | 5:30 PM | ENE |
| March 15 | 7:15 PM | E |
| April 15 | 7:45 PM | E |
| May 15 | 8:15 PM | ESE |
| June 15 | 8:45 PM | ESE |
| July 15 | 8:30 PM | ESE |
| August 15 | 8:00 PM | ESE |
| September 15 | 7:15 PM | E |
| October 15 | 6:15 PM | E |
| November 15 | 4:45 PM | ENE |
| December 15 | 4:30 PM | ENE |
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
Every month the path of the zodiac appears to move lower and lower from summer all the way through fall. After winter starts, the path moves higher and higher above the horizon throughout spring until summer. This is nearly identical to the changes that the path of the sun takes throughout the year, and also accounts for the changes in the seasons.
Assessment of Research Report 3
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Was the plan presented going to yield the necessary evidence needed to fully answer the listed research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Data Table and/or Results:
Has enough evidence been collected for this specific research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
- In their conclusion, have they claimed more than the evidence supports? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Have assumptions impacted their results? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Does the conclusion directly answer the original research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
4. Choose One Research Project to Redesign, Improve, and Conduct
Your task is to choose one of the research projects (either report 2 or report 3) to redesign and carry out on whiteboards(*), to be worked on and presented as a group. You should reuse the exact same research question as the previous researchers, but make sure to improve the research design so that you eliminate all the problems you were able to identify.
- Specific research question (use the same given statement).
- Step-by-step procedure to collect evidence (to be revised, if necessary). (You may use instructor-approved online resources other than heavens-above.com.)
- Data table and/or results (to be revised, if necessary).
- Evidence-based conclusion statement (to be revised, if necessary).
At the end, check over your research by answering the assessment questions about your own project.
Assessment of Your Revised Research Report
- Step-By-Step Procedure to Collect Evidence:
Was the plan you used going to yield the necessary evidence needed to fully answer the listed research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Data Table and/or Results:
Has enough evidence been collected for this specific research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Evidence-Based Conclusion Statement:
- In your conclusion, have you claimed more than the evidence supports? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Have assumptions impacted your results? If "no," then merely state so. If "yes" or "maybe," give a detailed explanation.
- Does your conclusion directly answer the original research question? If "yes," then merely state so. If "maybe" or "no," give a detailed explanation.
- Precisely, what have you done or reported differently in improving the original research project?
Preparation/Reflection Points
1.0 = Pre-lab reading assignment
1.0 = Current events quiz
1.0 = Post-lab reflection assignment
Group Work Points(*)
Documentation (Tasks 1-3, graded from randomly selected group member)
2.0 = exploration complete and reasoning correct
1.5 = minor problem with exploration or reasoning
1.0 = minor problems with both exploration and reasoning
0.5 = problematic exploration and reasoning
Poster/presentation (task 4)
2.0 = research report complete and competent presentation
1.5 = minor problem with research report or presentation
1.0 = minor problems with both research report and presentation
0.5 = problematic research report and presentation
(Backwards Folded Scaffolding laboratory adapted from: Tim Slater, Stephanie Slater, Daniel J. Lyons, Engaging in Astronomical Inquiry, W.H. Freeman & Company, New York (2010), pp. 43-62.)
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