Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – Behavioral Science in Action

Posted by hallep on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 in Grade 5, Grade 6, SAVY.

Hello Behavioral Science in Action Parents,

Today was an exciting day learning about statistics! After reviewing some important concepts from yesterday’s class, we headed over to the computer lab to analyze some real behavioral science data. Individually, each student worked hard to figure out how to enter the data into SPSS statistical analysis software in order to run their first t-test. They found that undergraduates who reported interest in medicine when they were young children were more likely to enjoy studying biology as college students now.

When we returned to our classroom, we worked together to run a correlation analysis examining the relationship between temperature and number of ice cream sales. We found another significant relationship where the higher the temperature the more ice cream that was sold. To take advantage of the excitement around our significant findings, we divided the class into two groups to debate about the pros and cons of using a t-test or a correlation analysis. The “pro correlation” group and “pro t-test” groups argued the advantages of their own group’s test while opposing the other team’s “pros” with a “cons”. The students realized that even though both tests have their disadvantages, they are necessary for different types of research questions. They also had a lot of fun!

We ended the class with a brainstorming session where the students decided if they wanted to work alone or in pairs to choose variables of interest from the survey they took on Day 2 to examine. We were very impressed as the students came up with some very interesting and well thought out ideas!

Their task tomorrow will be to perform a literature review to confirm their predictions and run analyses on their survey data based on the research questions they developed. Additionally, at the end of the day, students will get to visit a real research lab and interview behavioral science researchers themselves! A big day ahead!

Your Instructors,

Emily & Israel