a. Reporting the number of observations.
b. Describing the nature of the attribute under investigation, including how it was measured and its units of measurement.
c. Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.
d. Relating the choice of measures of center and variability to the shape of the data distribution and the context in which the data were gathered.
The Learning Objective: Find the mean absolute deviation of a data set.
Quote of the Day: The sun and wind debated about which was the stronger, and the wind said, “I’ll prove I am. See the old man down there with a coat? I bet I can get the coat off him quicker than you can.” So the sun went behind a cloud, and the wind blew until it was almost a tornado, but the harder it blew, the tighter the man clutched his coat to him.
Finally the wind calmed down and gave up, and then the sun came out from behind the clouds and smiled kindly on the old man. Presently, the man mopped his brow and pulled off his coat. The sun then reminded the wind that gentleness and friendliness were always stronger than fury and force.
Agenda:
- MCAS Reflection
- MAD Survey
- World's Biggest Burger (although time did not allow)
The Assessment: I asked students in all three classes three questions about MCAS using the TurningPoint software.
The first question asked them to state from 1 to 5 (1 being hard and 5 being easy) what they thought about the MCAS. Not a single student selected 1. The highest percentage of students (roughly 60%) picked a 4. The next highest percentage picked a 3.
The exact wording of the second question was this, "What do you wish you had more practice with?
A.Measurement (Area, Volume, etc.)
B.Ratios (meters
compared to centimeters, miles per hour, etc.)
C.Algebra (distributive
property, variables, etc.)
D.Statistics (median,
mean absolute deviation, etc.)
E.Number sense
(dividing fractions, decimal operations, the number line, integers, etc.)
F.Not sure
In two out of three classes nobody picked measurement, which I found interesting because that historically has been one of our worst strands. Ratios and number sense were particularly high. Students specifically mentioned percentages and unit conversion when it came to ratios and fractions when it came to numbers. They also talked about converting between percentages, fractions, and decimals as something that was problematic.
The third question asked students what strand they had most confidence with, and not surprisingly given the results to the prior question most of them picked measurement. The second most popular response was statistics, which also was not surprising given that it was the topic that we taught most recently.
In addition to these assessments, I also checked to see all students asked a statistical question as part of the mean absolute deviation survey. I did not however have time to check students work beyond that on this assignment. Instead I worked with individual students that were giving me difficulty in terms of classroom management. All of these students were difficult for me in part because they had no idea how to find mean absolute deviation, so this was appropriate for them.
Glass Half-Full: Not included in the assessment I also gave students a question about how I spent my birthdays. They had to pick what one thing I had never done on my birthday out of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, mini golf, and bowling. One of the students said, "Pin the Tail on the Donkey was popular back then." I made a really big deal out of this statement because she basically called me old. The class got a kick out of it.
One Regret: The mean absolute deviation survey is engaging and elicits student buy-in to the value of getting a mean and a mean absolute deviation. Unfortunately nobody in the class finished and we could not share the results. We probably won't be able to resume this activity because we are doing the honor's placement test in class on Monday and starting a project on Tuesday. Something has to be cut and this makes sense given that all teachers were doing something different today. If classes were not shortened in order for us to watch a movie today we would have had more time to fit this in.
Link of the Day: Egg Russian Roulette with Anna Kendrick and Jimmy Fallon. A nice introduction to fractions or probability. I would probably just pause carefully around the 2:02 marker. It's the only moment where things get a little dicey.
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