Today I tried something I have never done before. I used a “chain note” activity as a pre-learning exercise. In case you don’t know what a chain note is, I will explain.
A chain note is a note started by one person, and continued by another. In this case, I had an envelope with an essential learning on the outside. I numbered off the class into groups, in this case 1 through 6, and each group received an empty envelope to begin. The group answered the question, and after 4 minutes (that is all I gave them to start) they rotated envelopes. The new group had to answer the question, and then revise/ comment on/ or correct the answer in the envelope.
By the last rotation, they were answering, then examining 5 other answers and seeing what they could contribute to each of the other answers.
The best part is that I get to read their answers, so now I know what they really understand and what they are still struggling with. I like that. When I now formally introduce the chapter on Z-Tests, I know what I can skim over, and where I really need to slow down.
Very useful stuff!I know that I better review the difference between a standard deviation and standard error (from last chapter), and I know that the fact that null hypothesis are what we are testing is pretty well understood.
I recommend this strongly, and I will be doing it again. In case anyone is interested, here is version 1 of the prompts I used. I know these will change greatly for version 2 next year.
Define “Null Hypothesis, H0” in your own words, and give an example.
Define “Alternative Hypothesis, HA” in your own words, and give an example.
What is the difference between Standard Deviation and Standard Error?
What does “p-value” mean? Are you looking for large or small values?
What does the “p-value” represent?
What conditions do you need to check EVERY time?