I explain that evidence is data that can be measured, observed, examined, and analyzed. Next, I explain that inference is an educated guess or explanation that can be derived after analyzing the evidence. I work to further develop meaning for these words by relating them to the work of paleontologists.
Paleontologists study fossil remains, collecting evidence of prehistoric animals through the observations they make. Paleontologists then make inferences from the evidence they uncover.
After describing the differences between evidence and inference, I ask students to place these two words at the top of the T-chart, using them as titles for the appropriate columns. Next , I place the students into groups of three and give each student group a different image from the Evidence vs. Inference PowerPoint. I have printed them on cardstock and laminated them for easy reuse.
I explain to the class they they will have minutes to examine the image and record all of the evidence and inferences that they can. After time is up, they will pass their image to the group on their right, and follow the same process for the image that was just given to them. This process will repeat times in order to give each group ample practice in identifying evidence and making inferences.
As students work, I play the Evidence and Inference Song , projecting the lyrics for students to read. I restart the song with every new image. Soon enough, students are singing along, further creating schema for these concepts. In addition to monitoring student discussion as they work, I also circulate around the room, asking questions to provoke thought and spark group discussion.
Some of my questions include:. After students have had time to view images and record their inferences and evidence, I regroup them so that they are sitting in groups of four, with students who have not seen any of the same pictures as themselves. I try to make sure there is one child in each group who has seen each picture, in order to keep the conversations going throughout the entire lesson.
I slowly show each image under the document camera You can show them on the projector or just hold up enlarged versions of the image if you don't have a document camera and ask students who examined this picture to share with their group at least three pieces of evidence they collected, as well as two inferences they have made. This is a modified version of a Jigsaw strategy. Their partners have to listen to their thoughts and decide if they correctly identified evidence and inference about each picture.
If they agree, they place their finger on their nose, signifying to me that their classmate correctly identified both.
I direct their attention to the section entitled, "Scientists Infer". I have students summarize what it means to infer and to use evidence to support their inferences. I do not provide further discussion, as I want students to write independently for this section, and I also want them to write what makes sense to them, in order to personalize the learning and provide a more tailored description for them to refer to in their journals at a later date.
It is best to have students keep it in their science journal or another place where they can return to it throughout each lesson in the unit.
We will add to it as we build understanding and study each trait of a scientist. Once I am confident that all students are fluent in identifying and distinguishing between evidence and inference, I extend the learning by providing a more hands-on activity that I am able to relate to scientific processes.
A day before conducting this lesson, I have filled several "mystery boxes" with random objects, such as nails, bouncy balls, rocks, marbles, jacks, rolls of masking tape, etc. I have purposely tried to use objects made of differing materials, and of varying sizes, weights, etc.
Some boxes have only one type of item, while others contain several. No two boxes contain the same contents. I have wrapped each box in brown butcher paper to make them as indistinguishable as possible from the outside.
I number each box so that the students can easily find it again if they want to collect more evidence later. I remind the students that scientists often construct knowledge by making inferences about little known concepts after collecting as much evidence as possible. As scientists they will be doing the same. Before starting, they create another T-chart in their science notebooks with the appropriate titles.
Then they have about 7 minutes to collect and record evidence and make inferences in their notebooks. When time is up, students pass their boxes around the classroom, calling on a group reporter to share their evidence and inferences with the class.
Students have the option to use discussion frames that are posted in my classroom. I allow for a few additional inferences from other students, provided they can support their thinking with evidence.
After each group has shared, they will want to know what is in each mystery box. I explain to them that there are many cases in which scientists never get definite answers to their questions and often cannot confirm whether or not their inferences are accurate. I let them know that this is one of those times. It will drive them crazy not knowing what is in the box, but it encourages them to study these boxes in the coming days, getting them to continue to think scientifically, which is definitely a good thing!
We briefly revisit the chart paper, and I ask students to think silently for 20 seconds about how I categorized the observations they made earlier. After 20 seconds has passed, I call on a student or two to share their thoughts. After teaching this lesson for over 7 years, I have never had a student get this question wrong!
While conducting the read-aloud, the students will become familiar with the pattern and rhythm of the book and will share the ending of each page before you read it.
I want them to do this, because the evaluation part of the lesson depends on them recognizing the pattern of the book. I encourage this by pausing before the last sentence of every page so they can say it before I do. This interdisciplinary field, he explained, enables comparisons across studies to produce summary descriptions of bodies of research evidence. He noted that the problems of drawing inferences from multiple studies are the same across disciplines and similar to those of drawing inferences in individual studies.
Research on education has come into the political spotlight as the demand grows for reliable and credible information for the guidance of policy and practice in the education reform environment.
Many debates among the education research community feature questions concerning the nature of evidence and these questions have also appeared in broader policy and practice arenas. Inquiry has generally, over the past years, created bodies of scientific knowledge that have profound implications for education. Dramatic advances in understanding how people learn, how young children acquire early reading skills, and how to design and evaluate educational and psychological measurements is a good example of this.
However, the highly contextualized nature of education and the wide range of disciplinary perspectives that rely on it have made the identification of reducible, generalizable principles difficult and slow to achieve. Due to this, the U. The committee consists of members with expertise in statistics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy of science, history of education, economics, chemistry, biology, and education practice.
The committee worked with the three questions in mind: What are the principles of scientific quality in education research? Science, Evidence, and Inference in Education: Report of a Workshop summarizes this workshop through these three ideas. The report also includes what the committee plans to do next, the workshop agenda, and information on the workshop's participants and speakers.
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Get This Book. Visit NAP. Looking for other ways to read this? No thanks. Page 11 Theme 3. Evidence and Inference: Consistency and Variation Revisited At the core of science is a commitment to rigorous reasoning, method, and the use of evidence. Page 12 Share Cite. Page 13 Share Cite. Page 13 process across fields. Page 11 Share Cite. Login or Register to save!
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