CEP 806 Inquiry Project 1:

how fifth grade students find answers using different websites

CEP 806 Inquiry Project 1:

how fifth grade students find answers using different websites

By: Melanie Gray

Fall 2009

By: Melanie Gray

Fall 2009

MOtivation for this inquiry

• To find out how my fifth grade students determine if a website contains pertinent/credible information about their science question.

Reasons behind the inquiry

• According to the Nicholas C. Burbules article, Paradoxes of the Web: The Ethical Dimensions of Credibility, “‘the judgement of credibility’ is typically based on one’s interests and concerns and whether this new item even potentially qualifies as worthy of attention.”

Description

• Ask students to find the answer to one question using seven different web sites as possible sources.

• Students must choose only one site to answer the question.

the question:

• Their possible sources for the answer.

• Site A: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Seasons_Nav.swf

• Site B: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml

• Site C: http://www.scienceu.com/observatory/articles/seasons/seasons.html

• Site D: http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/earth_sun_relations_seasons.html

• Site E: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/seasons1.html&edu=elem

• Site F: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077384/

• Site G: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/educate/seasons.shtml

Why do we have different seasons on Earth?

My predictions

• Of the seven sites I thought my students would choose the McGraw Hill Site (Site A).

• The site is incredibly interactive with lots on animation.

• Students would look at all of the sites comparing the information before choosing one for their answer.

• 90% of the 5th graders will be able to answer the question, Why do we have different seasons correctly?

the inquiry process

• Students needed direction in opening the word document that housed the seven unique websites for their inquiry.

• Students received instruction on hyperlinks and the question they were to answer.

• Students were excited to begin the inquiry process.

Patterns in Data

• When asked - Did you look at all the site?

• “Yes, I wanted to see if there were different answers.”

• “Technically, well, most of them. Some of them I breezed through reading only a few words.”

• “No, I only looked at two. I thought that was enough. Maybe I should have looked at more.”

• “Yes, I wanted to see if the other sites had better information.

A majority of students looked at all of the sites.

Patterns in Data

• Only 1 student used this site to answer their question. This was the only site they looked at.

• “This site has good information.”

SITE A - McGraw Hill

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Seasons_Nav.swf

Patterns in Data

• 7 students used this site.

• “It had a good layout and interesting facts.”

• “Easiest to understand.”

• “This site was more kid friendly than any of the others.”

SITE B - Enchanted Learning

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml

Patterns in Data

• 7 students used this site.

• “I only looked at this site. It gave me what I needed so why look at others?”

• “It was straight forward.”

• “I chose this site because it was interesting and fun.”

• “The pictures helped me understand the big words.”

SITE C - Science U

http://www.scienceu.com/observatory/articles/seasons/seasons.html

Patterns in Data

• 1 students used this site

• “This site gave me a lot of information and it had good picture examples.”

• “The bold writing helped me find important words.”

SITE D - The Physical Environment

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/energy/earth_sun_relations_seasons.html

Patterns in Data

• 0 student used this site

• While the students didn’t use this site to answer their question ten students came back to the kids sections and found games to play after they answered their completed their inquiry.

SITE E - Windows to the Universe

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/seasons1.html&edu=elem

Patterns in Data

• 5 student used this site

• “Lots of information, laid out really nicely.”

• “Some fifth graders would understand this site but not all.”

• “The picture helped me understand the words more.”

SITE F - MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077384/

Patterns in Data

• 4 student used this site

• “This was the first site I opened. It gave good information so I stopped looking.”

• “The graphic on the first page made me check it out.”

SITE G - National Data Buoy Center

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/educate/seasons.shtml

Patterns in Data

• 26 students browsed 7 different sites.

• One site was not used at all by the students.

• The boys used 6 of the 7 sites to answer the question.

• The girls only used 3 of the 7 sites to answer the question.

Top sites used by students.

Patterns in Data• Surprisingly, only 8 out of 26 students

(31%)answered the question correctly.

• 6 out of 26 students ( 23%) knew that it had something to do with the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

• 12 out 26 students (46%) were unable to answer the question correctly. Most students shared that when the Earth is closest to the Sun it is Summer and that Earth is farther away from the sun in the Fall and Winter.

•

Patterns in data

• All students were engaged in learning.

• All students were focused on the task.

• Students did not navigate away from the seven sites listed.

• Some students did find the kids section on one site and played games (connected to Astronomy) while their classmates finished.

During the course of this inquiry:

Emergent ideas• 5th grade students, while digital

natives, do not know how to look for credible information on web sites.

• I was surprised that only 31% of my students were able to answer the question correctly.

• Students need direct instruction on how to read a website.

• It was interesting to note that the girls in my room only used 3 different sites while the boys used 6 different sites. Would like to look into the reason behind this.

Emergent ideas

• Students need explicit instruction on evaluating web sites and cross checking information.

• I would like to take the other classes of fifth graders to the lab and compare their results with the results my students found to determine if they are typical for the grade.

• Develop lessons for 5th grade students that focus on locating credible information and double checking of facts.