Changing rooms

Achievement objectives

S4-1: Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle: determining appropriate variables and data collection methods; gathering, sorting, and displaying multivariate category, measurement, and time-series data to detect patterns, variations, relationships, and trends; comparing distributions visually; communicating findings, using appropriate displays.

Required materials

See Materials that come with this resource to download:

• Changing rooms activity (.pdf)

Activity

A year 8 class is moving into the new prefab classroom.

The teacher has been allowed to furnish the room as she wants, so she decided to base her plan on feedback from the class on how students today tend to work best.

Using your own class as a representative sample, carry out a statistical investigation as to what sort of furniture and/or layout suits students best for learning.

The following prompts illustrate how this activity can be structured around the phases of the statistical enquiry cycle.

Problem

The problem section is about what data to collect, who to collect it from, and why it’s important.

• What is my survey question? Why do I wonder about that? (The questions should "get at" how students prefer to do their work and the space they prefer to do it in.)
• Is my question a summary question? (Students are finding out about a single characteristic of all the students in their class.)
• What variables will be involved? (A variable is both a characteristic and a way to measure that characteristic. In this case, the variable is preferred work setting as measured by the selection of pre-established categories.)
• Why is my question important? (There is a one-off opportunity to purchase furniture that matches the preferred working styles of students.)
• Who will find this information useful? Why will it be useful?

Plan

The planning section is about how students will gather the data.

• How will I go about answering this question?
• What will I need to know?
• Does this information answer my question?
• If I need to collect data, how will I measure the characteristic?
• How will I find the data that I need? Why will I use a survey?
• Have I considered other information about the effects on learning of the different ways students choose to work?
• How will I make sure the measurement is as accurate as possible and "fairly" measures the characteristic? (Ensuring the categories cover all the possible ways students like to work is important.)
• If I need to construct a survey, have I checked that my questions are clear and not leading (unbiased)? Have I trialled my questions on a few people first?
• What type of sample will I use? Can I justify why I chose that type of sample?
• How large will my sample be? Will my sample size be large enough, or do I need to increase or reduce it? (In this case, students will ask all students in their class, so no sampling is needed. However, if the data were used to inform buying furniture for the whole school, then the class would constitute a sample.)

Data

The data section is concerned with how the data is managed and organised.

• What format will I use to organise my data as I gather it? (Students might use a pencil and paper format, such as a tally chart, or use an online platform such as Google Forms or Survey Monkey.)
• How much time will it take to gather my data? Have I got time to do it? Have my subjects had time to give me their data?
• What digital or written tools will help me organise my data? (Consider software and pencil and paper methods.)
• How will I protect the data I gather or retrieve so it is safe?
• How will I protect the privacy of the subjects who are trusting me with their data?

Analysis

The analysis section is about exploring the data and reasoning with it.

• Have I reflected back on my question so I am clear on what I am trying to find out?
• Do I get ideas about patterns and differences from just "eyeballing" the table of data?
• Are my important variables categoric, discrete, numeric, or continuous (measurements)? (Categoric in this case.)
• What tools will help me to display the data in different ways? What ways are appropriate to my data and help answer my question? (Bar graphs highlight differences, while pie charts or strip graphs highlight proportions.)
• What variation can I see in my data? What might be the causes of that variation? (In this case, the variation is among frequencies in the categories.)
• Can I make preliminary statements about my findings, starting with “I noticed that ...”
• Am I developing ideas about what the answer to my question might be?

Conclusion

The conclusion section is about answering the question in the problem section and providing reasons based on their analysis.

• Have I answered my original question? If not, why not?
• Does my analysis of the data justify my recommendation about furniture?
• What displays best show what I have found out?
• Is my summary of findings clearly written so others can understand it?
• Do I go back to the context to suggest why the patterns and differences occur?
• What do I say about the limitations of what I have found out? What can I say, and what can’t I say?
• What other things have I learnt and what further questions do I have?