Summer SAVY 2023 Session 1, Day 2 – Data Discoverers
Day 2: We dove deep into data today by finishing up our experimental research and starting descriptive research! Our objectives today were focused on displaying data through both line plots and bar graphs as well as conducting experimental research projects in small groups.
In the morning we continued discussing mean, median, and mode using our data from Minute to Win It, and students recognized how relevant these terms were in sports, jobs, and even the housing market! To organize our class data set, students learned how to make a line plot. When data are organized in a line plot, students are better able to describe what is typical about the set. A challenging aspect of line plots was deciding what intervals to use so that all the data could be represented. The culminating activity for each type of research will have students plan a study that goes through all the steps of the research process. For experimental research, each student answered a question that involved an “experiment”. They made a hypothesis, conducted an experiment, analyzed data, drew conclusions, and presented their information on a poster! I was very impressed with their mathematical abilities and evaluation of their studies!
After lunch, we were lucky enough to have a guest speaker! Nicolette Granata, a grad student and researcher at Vanderbilt, came to speak to us about how her team uses research every day at work! She talked about different research questions and how they gathered, conducted, and presented their research. It was fascinating! I think students learned a lot about how research can be used to advance our knowledge in psychology and science!
In the afternoon we went from quantitative to qualitative data. Asking and answering questions is a key component of descriptive research. Therefore, we spent time analyzing bar graphs and double bar graphs to determine what information can be found (and not found) from the graphs. Students will spend time creating a variety of graphs to represent the same data during descriptive research. Right before we left for the day students created and gave their first survey. Many surveys will collect both categorical and numerical information. Tomorrow students will consider which method will be best to represent their data and design their own descriptive research project! I challenged students to create a give a survey to their family at home tonight for fun!
Ms. Beth Waight