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 Steps
Introductory Activity:
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Ask students to think about the different ways their
academic performance has been evaluated over the years. List their
responses on the board. (If all students have only been evaluated
the same way, share some of the different types of assessment with
them: letter grades, conferences, GPAs, portfolios, rubrics, narratives,
self-evaluations, etc.)
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Ask students to talk about which method(s) they preferred
any why. Before beginning this discussion, have students define what
they think a good assessment system would do, e.g, give them feedback
on their performance relative to others in the class, give them constructive
criticism, etc. After creating this list, ask them which
type(s) of
assessment would best meet these criteria, and why. Record their responses
on the board.
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Next, ask students to name a strength and weakness
of each type of assessment they listed.
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Write the words “qualitative” and “quantitative”
data on the board. Ask students what they know about these types of
data. If they don’t know what these words mean, ask them to look
at the roots of the words for clues: (qual, quant). Explain what the
words mean to the students, then ask them to categorize the types
of assessment they listed earlier as “qualitative” or “quantitative”
data.
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Learning Activities:
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Activity One
Part one
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Conduct a poll in which half the class gathers qualitative
data, and the other half gathers quantitative data. (Later, these
groups will switch roles.)
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Write the topic of the poll on the board:
Although the Internet brings people together via chatrooms,
e-mail, etc., it ultimately isolates people from one another because
they talk less face-to-face and over the phone.
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Break the class into two groups of equal size. Group
one will begin as the qualitative group and group two will begin as
the quantitative group.
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Tell the students from the qualitative group to each
pick one person from the quantitative group to interview. The qualitative
student should ask the quantitative student to respond to the statement,
and record their response. Then, the quantitative student should ask
the qualitative student to respond to the question using a scale of
one to five. Give each student the appropriate STUDENT
ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE- QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE handout.
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Once the students have gathered their data, ask both groups to
compile and assess their findings using the information on their
handouts.
Note: Before asking students to compile and analyze their results,
you may want to review the types of analyses described on the handouts
with the students. If your students are rusty or unfamiliar with
calculating percentages, they may need a review or guidance.
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Have each group share their data and findings.
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Part two
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Now, have the groups switch roles. The qualitative
group becomes the quantitative and vice versa. Have students conduct
the poll again, and tell them to try to stay true to the opinions
they expressed in part one. Each student will need another copy of
the appropriate STUDENT ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE-
QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE handout.
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After each group has shared their findings, ask the
students to discuss the following questions as a class:
- Which data, the qualitative or the quantitative, provided you
with more information about people’s reactions to the poll
topic? Why?
- Which type of data was easier to analyze and consolidate? Why?
- What types of information might be easier to collect using a
qualitative approach? Why?
- What types of information might be easier to collect using a
quantitative approach? Why?
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Have students generate a list of the strengths and
limitations of each kind of data and record on a piece of chart paper.
From this list generate a list of do's and don'ts for data collection.
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Hand out the STUDENT
ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE-RESEARCH sheet and review sheet with students
to make sure they understand the activity.
Ask students to use the following Web sites to help them answer the
questions on the handout:
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Review handouts as a class.
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Activity Two
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Tell students they will use what they’ve learned
to design and conduct a poll of their own.
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First, have the class brainstorm poll topics and then
vote to determine which topic they will use. The topic should be something
meaningful to the students—ideally they should use what they
learn to inform a decision or policy change.
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Then, break students into groups of 4-5. Each group
will devise their own poll.
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Groups should use STUDENT
ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY TWO as a guide to help them design their polls,
along with the list of do’s and don’ts they created in the
previous activity.
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Each group should also secure a group of people (ideally
10-20 people) willing to participate in the survey. This can be done
via paper ballot, online (see sites listed below), or in person.
Free Survey/Poll Building Sites
http://www.surveyanywhere.com
http://www.formsite.com
http://www.free-forms.com
http://www.response-o-matic.com
These sites allow you to create online surveys or polls. In most
cases, the results will be e-mailed to your account. Since some
of these sites require registration, you should input the student-created
survey questions, and have results sent to your account. An alternative
would be to give a student monitor (as opposed to the entire class)
your password, and have them build and monitor the surveys.
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Each group should do a trial run of their survey on
another group in your class, and then make any necessary adjustments
to their polls or data collecting method before conducting their official
poll.
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Once each group has conducted their poll, have them
analyze their results and share them with the class. In their presentation,
they should briefly discuss how they collected and analyzed their
data, what they thought they did well in their poll, how they could
have improved it, and what kinds of new questions their study raised.
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As a class, have students add to the list of the strengths
and limitations of each kind of data they created in Activity One.
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If students feel their polls were accurate, ask them
to share their results with the school newspaper or post them on the
school Web site. Also, don’t forget to share the results with
the people you polled!
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Culminating Activity/Assessment:
Option One: Presentation
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Invite other classes to visit your classroom
to learn about qualitative and quantitative data. Your class can either
create a formal presentation, or set up booths. Either way, the presentation
or booths should cover the following topics.
- definitions and examples of qualitative and quantitative data;
- a discussion (with examples) of the strengths and limitations
of these two types of data;
- examples of how to analyze these two types of data;
- an activity for the audience to engage in.
Note: If you choose to create a Web page or PowerPoint presentation
as part of this option, the following sites provide useful information
and resources:
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Option Two: Debate
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Have students conduct a debate in which one side represents
qualitative data and the other, quantitative. Note, there should be
a panel of three student judges who preside over the debate.
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To prepare for the debate, each side must create a
list of ten statements that they feel establish their data collection
method as more accurate, practical, useful, etc. than the other.
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To conduct the debate, one side offers their statement
and the other counters with opinions supported by examples from their
polling experience. The other side then has a chance to respond.
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For each statement, the judges determine which side
made a better case based on the clarity of their argument and the
support cited for their opinions.
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Extensions
Cross-Curricular Extension: Social Science
Contact a social science professor from a local university or college
and invite him or her to your classroom to discuss their opinions
of qualitative versus quantitative data. |
