Being Part of an Experiment in Education

Today the students were introduced to the Concord Consortium's study that involves our laboratory in the SmartGraphs program pilot. I did my best to explain how this type of investigation relates to what we've been learning in class. The following is a recap:

The students are the experimental group because they are among a few to use the SmartGraph program pilot. They will be compared to other students in similar Pennsylvania schools (a control group) that are not working on SmartGraphs, but covering similar topics. The SmartGraphs software and hardware are the independent variables. To evaluate whether SmartGraphs is an effective learning tool, the students will take pre-tests and post-tests. The scores on the tests will be the dependent variable. What will the conclusion be? Well, that will depend on the results of the pilot.

Hopefully, the SmartGraphs program will be a success and students throughout the United States will benefit from the investigation taking place in our science laboratory. My experiences with the SmartGraphs program so far has exceeded my expectations and I look forward to the students working with this pilot program.


Parents who would like to learn more about SmartGraphs can read the letter from the researchers.

  Homework Tonight:
A1 Homework: Online Activity
A2 Homework: SpongeBob SquarePants Variables

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