Category: CER

How do you introduce CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to your students? Fact is, there are many ways, and they all depend on personal teaching styles. Some use class discussion questions to as a CER intro activity to help students develop and support some fun claims. Some use quirky science examples to illustrate CER in real, fun science. And, there are also videos on YouTube for CER too. Unfortunately, these resources still have students sitting at their desks thinking about CER. I like a CER intro activity that gets students out of their seats to practice CER. How do we do that? What’s a fun CER intro activity that allows students to examine some evidence and come to a conclusion using CER?

 

In August 2017, I posted a question on a Facebook group asking for a good first day activity for the science classroom. One suggestion I got back I’ve used for all my science classes this year. It’s a keeper. The activity gets students to use CER. It is open ended and easily modified. And, most importantly, it is fun and engaging. We outline the activity below. We also provide a handout to a follow up activity for download at the end.

 

How to Intro CER on First Science Class

I believe every teacher has a getting-to-know you activity at the beginning of the school year. It might be a bingo chart students fill out. Or, it might be an interview. Whatever the activity may be, why not make include some CER right away?

The activity I use does both. Students get to learn about me (which is super important in my books) all the while practicing CER. And, the activity us quite simple to run.

 

Setup is as follows:

1. Grab 12-20 personal items from home or from around your classroom and put them out on a table. I put out a record player, a zippo lighter, an old Nintendo Gameboy DS, some floppy discs, and a home digital picture printer.

2. Tell students to examine the items. Suggest to students to ask, “why does my teacher have this item? What does this item say about my teacher?”

 

3. Ask students to take out a sheet or paper and write a paragraph using the CER framework. First, come up with a CLAIM about the teacher. Then, have students provide EVIDENCE for that claim. Emphasize they need to use several items together to support the claim. Finally, have students provide REASONS why the evidence supports the claim. For example, a student could claim that I am sentimental. Students examining my objects could argue that record players, home photo printers, and floppy discs are considered old technology. The only reason I would keep old technology for this long is because it may have a special meaning to me. For example, perhaps the record player reminds me of my childhood.

 

4. Have students write 2 more claims for a total of 3 claims (and 3 paragraphs).

 

The Results of my CER Intro Activity

What I had most fun with was introducing each of my items to the students. Many students didn’t know what floppy discs were (one student said they were CD covers). Some students were amazed by the 1st generation Apple digital camera I had. And, the Gameboy was also very popular among students. But, I digress. Let’s talk about how this relates to CER.

From the items I laid out, many of my students mentioned that I was into keeping old things. Some students also claimed that perhaps I was really interested in photography. However, students did struggle to come up with 3 strong claims based on the objects provided.

One suggestion for future sessions is to bring objects of different time periods and different parts of my life. Yes, I put out objects that were different from each other, but they were also similar in theme (all “old school” objects). Next time, maybe I can put out a dance trophy I won, a book that I’m currently reading (old perhaps my favourite), or a movie ticket stub.

 

Follow up Activity

After students analyze me and the objects I lay out, I have students go home to grab 15 objects from home that represent who they are. And, I have them bring them to school for the next class. Then, I pair students up and have them analyze each other’s items. They must come up with 3 claims as well.

You can collect the pieces or have students read them out in front of the class or both. If a student doesn’t bring any items (or forgets to bring them), have the student open up his backpack or pencil case for analysis. What a student keeps in their backpack can reveal quite a bit regarding what the student is like.

 

Wrap Up

There are many ways a CER intro activity can be done. This one just happens to hit two birds with one stone. First, students learn about the teacher and each other. And, they also get to practice CER. Also, an added bonus is that they learn a little bit more about each other. I’d say having all three done through a CER intro activity is a big win. To download our handouts to this activity, click on the link below. Thanks for reading, and please share!

 

Until next time, keep it REAL.

 

Resources

Handout(s): 27 – CER Intro Activity Handout

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How do I mark CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning) statements? That’s probably a big question you have if you currently use or plan to use CER in your classroom. Other questions may include, ‘Is there a CER rubric?” and “If so, what are some good CER rubrics?” The short answer is that, yes, there is a way to mark CER and, yes, there are CER rubrics out there. However, there are some problems with current CER rubrics. For one thing, many CER rubrics are on scales out of 3, 4, or 5. Unfortunately, not everything fits perfectly into a number or category. No matter how well we define a 1, 2, or 3 on a rubric, not everything fits. There are grey areas. Furthermore, rubrics are classroom and teacher specific. We use rubrics to measure what we find important, and what each teacher finds important is different. Thus, rubrics cannot be generic – which are what most CER rubrics are.

 

So, what is a good CER rubric? It’s a rubric that provides feedback for students and is also customizable for each classroom. I outline how this can be done down below. I also give a pdf sample for a CER rubric that you can download at the end of this post.

 

The Basic CER rubric

How I create my CER rubrics for my classroom is based on the ideas from pro-d workshop by Peter Liljedahl, professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, that I attended. In short, rubrics need to measure what we value as teachers. And, rubrics do not need to have a number scale or multiple categories. Instead, a line representing a range of ability can be drawn between two ends of ability spectrum. On one end, we write a description of a poor outcome of the aspect we are evaluating. On the other end, we write a description of an excellent outcome of the same aspect. To use the rubric, teachers merely have to make a mark along the line indicating where the student’s ability currently is for the aspect being evaluated. That’s it. No need for multiple descriptions breaking down a 1, 2, or 3. This way of writing a CER rubric that is loose enough for teachers to account for the “grey areas”. At the same time, it also provides students with feedback because it shows where along the range they currently sit with regards to the ability being evaluated.

 

For example, let’s say I create a rubric to measure the “Evidence” aspect of CER. On the lowest end of the spectrum, I can write “Does not provide evidence, or only provides inappropriate or vague evidence.” On the highest end of the spectrum, I can write “Provides multiple sources of quantitative and qualitative measurements and observations from the investigation.” I finish off by drawing a line with an arrowhead at both ends (signifying a range). Ta-da! Rubric done!

 

An Even Better CER Rubric

The key to making this even more effective, according to Peter Liljedahl, is for students to both create and use the rubric themselves. For example, for a rubric that measures how a student presents evidence in CER, ask students what a very poor job at presenting evidence looks like. Chances are, they already know what it looks like. And, if they don’t, you can give them some guidance. The important thing is to write their suggestions down word-for-word and to use their exact wording to create a class CER rubric. In having students create this rubric, they get a basic understanding of what weak and strong work looks like as well as what the teacher is looking for in their work.

 

Then, the next time a student submits CER work, give them a copy of the class CER rubric. Have students mark where they believe their own work falls on the spectrum. If a student’s self evaluation is in line with what you see on the spectrum, then it’s a good thing because they are starting to understand where their own ability currently is and where they need to go. If a student’s self evaluation is way off from what you see on the spectrum, then this is also good because it opens up a discussion with the student and what they believe. It’s a win-win.

 

Wrap Up

Rubrics need to give feedback to the student. And, rubrics need to measure what teachers find important. A good CER rubric will do both. And, a good rubric is one that students create together by defining the ends of the spectrum as a class. It’s also a rubric students use themselves. Click on the link below to download our handout. If you want to check out our CER resources, please visit posts #4, #9, #12, and #20.

 

Until next time, keep it REAL.

 

Resources

Handout(s): 21 – CER Rubric

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Do you know about the Four Stages of Competence? One of its claims is that getting better at a skill (to go from “conscious” to “unconscious competence”) requires practice. Of course, this is nothing new. To get better at sports, reading, writing, or arithmetic requires practice to hone the craft. Using CER – Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning – to analyze science research is no different. How do students get better at writing claims and supporting those claims with clear evidence and reasoning? Students need practice. In Blog #9 (Does Aspartame help with weight loss? 3 CER practice activities from real science data), I provide some sample research from real science research for CER practice. Unfortunately, many educators find the articles to be too complex for their students. So, this time, I offer simpler CER practice examples.

 

This time, we selected our graphs and data from research articles based on a couple of big questions. (1) Can students read and understand the graphs without extra information or instructions? And, (2) will students find this topic fun or interesting? From those 2 questions, we sifted through countless research articles from the Public Library of Science website and found two articles that fit the criteria. We summarize the research question, experimental methods, and data below. You can also download our handouts (with all the CER practice examples below nicely formatted as a pdf) along with our sample key at the end of the post.

 

Instructions

Present the following CER practice examples (the research studies and accompanying data) to students and have them come up with a CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning) paragraph on their own or in groups. I usually ask this in 3 steps:

1. [Claim] What is a conclusion you can make from the data?
2. [Evidence] How does the data support your conclusion?
3. [Reasoning] Drawing from scientific theories or other studies, why do you think this happens?

 

CER Practice Example 1: Banning Chocolate Milk

 

Research Question:

Chocolate milk can have up to two times more sugar than white milk and, as a result, removing chocolate milk from school cafeterias has been debated as a way to reduce childhood obesity. Researchers studied the effect of removing chocolate milk from cafeterias on milk selection and consumption.

 

Experimental Design:

Researchers recorded how much milk was sold at 11 elementary schools in September and October of 2011, when chocolate milk was available for purchase in the cafeteria (chocolate, 1%, and skim were the only milks available for sale). In September and October of 2012, chocolate milk was no longer available for purchase in the cafeteria, and researchers again recorded how much milk was sold for the same 11 schools.

 

Results:

 

Citation:

Hanks AS, Just DR, Wansink B (2014) Chocolate Milk Consequences: A Pilot Study Evaluating the Consequences of Banning Chocolate Milk in School Cafeterias. PLoS ONE9(4): e91022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091022

 

 

CER Practice Example 2: Snacking and Television Shows

Research Question:

Obesity rates have more than doubled since 1980. There are variety of lifestyle factors that have contributed to this increase. For example, in some studies, researchers have linked watching TV to increases in food intake and, as a result, weight gain.
In a study, researchers in Sweden studied the impact of television content has on food consumption.

 

Experimental Design:

Researchers had 18 female participants do three activities: read for 30 minutes of non-engaging text (ie. a text on insects living in Sweden); watch 30 minutes of television with boring, unengaging content (ie. an art lecture on public Swedish television), and watch 30 minutes of television with exciting, engaging content (ie. a popular Swedish comedy sitcom). Researchers also provided participants with food (grapes and chocolate). As participants were doing each activity, researchers measured how much food was consumed by each participant.

 

Results:

 

Citation:

Chapman CD, Nilsson VC, Thune HÅ, Cedernaes J, Le Grevès M, Hogenkamp PS, et al. (2014) Watching TV and Food Intake: The Role of Content. PLoS ONE9(7): e100602. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100602

 

 

Wrap Up

Using CER is like any skill. It requires practice to get better at it. Unfortunately, CER practice comes from analyzing data sets, other research studies and science phenomena – all of which may not be that easy to find. But, when it’s done right (engaging and relevant to students), it’s pretty sweet. Click the link below to download our handout.

 

Until next time, keep it REAL.

 

Resources

Handout(s): 20 – More Fun CER Practice Examples

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CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning) is an effective way for students to structure their conclusions by wrapping together their lab evidence and science reasoning. However, do you need a simple, low-barrier-to-entry example to intro CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning)? I do. Even though I have CER infographics from Blog 4 to show my students fun science CER examples, I still need something to intro CER. Something we can discuss and create as a class. And, preferably, something that all students can relate to.

 

That’s what I was thinking as I stood in front of my class one day as I was just about to show the infographics. I thought, “these examples are fun but still a little too scientific. I need something students can talk about now” So, I came up with this intro CER claim: “Red Jellybeans are the best ones.”

 

Keeping Intro CER examples simple

It’s a claim that students can at least can discuss (because most students know what jellybeans are) even if they don’t agree with the statement. It’s an example with a low barrier of entry. When we discuss the claim in class, I tell the students to assume the claim to be true. Then, I ask, “what quantitative evidence and scientific reasoning can we use to support this claim?” And, instead of getting blank looks onto students’ faces, I get back some thoughtful responses. If you want a copy of our Jellybean discussion notes, you can download it at the end of the post.

 

Back in Blog 10, I wrote about teaching with examples that students from all over the world can connect with (in that activity, it was gas prices). I am saying the same when coming up with simple intro CER examples. Here are 11 intro CER statements you can use for class discussions.

 

1. Red Jellybeans are the best ones..
2. Television is the most important invention of the 20th Century.
3. Gas prices are lower in developing (ie third world) nations
4. Seafood-based diets are healthier for you.
5. Tea is the most popular drink in the world
6. Students studying math online do better than those studying math in the traditional classroom.
7. More young adults under the age of 30 are living with their parents today.
8. People are saving more money for retirement today.
9. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world
10. Taylor Swift is the greatest performer of all time.
11. Chicken soup is a good remedy for a cold.

 

Wrap Up

Again, during discussion, tell students to assume the claims to be true and then to ask for quantitative evidence and scientific reasoning to support the claims. Note: the statements are not for debate. If you want the Jellybean discussion notes, click the link below to download a copy.

 

Until next time, keep it REAL.

 

Resources

Handout(s): 12 – Red Jellybean Discussion Notes

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CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning) is a great way to teach students to draw conclusions by analyzing their data and linking it to with scientific facts/reasoning, but CER practice resources are hard to find. In Blog 4, I give some CER examples in the form of infographics. The infographics are great in helping students see samples of CER writeups using real scientific research. But, what about sample data that students can use to write their own CER practice statements? Where can we find some real research questions and data that they can use?

 

Real data from Real Science

In this post, we provide important details from and links to 3 real research articles for your students to use for CER practice. The articles have interesting conclusions and data charts that are different but not too difficult for students to decipher. Most importantly, the topics in the articles are relevant to students or someone they know. In practice, we do not give students the full research article. That would be a little too difficult for students. Instead, we generate shorter handouts that include important graphs, details, and data from the research articles and provide those to our students for CER practice. At the end of the article, you can download our handouts and templates by providing entering your email address.

 

Article 1

Research question: What’s the effect of artificial sweetener use on weight loss and obesity?

This research study examines the relationship between the use of artificial sweeteners in our society over time and it’s effect on obesity (as a percentage of the population). The author’s graph is amazing. The author plots the artificial sweeteners in use at different times in history with a number of outcomes including obesity. The researcher’s claim from their data is equally as intriguing. That is, the increase in artificial sweetener use has resulted in an increase in obesity.

 

Article 2

Research Question: What is the effect of Dietary Restriction on Learning?

Do we learn better on a full stomach or an empty one? That is the question this research article addresses. From a CER practice standpoint, I like the fact that there are so many graphs for students to analyze. Furthermore, the research actually tracks certain enzymes in the body and their effect on learning. Thus, the study goes beyond just the effect of starving oneself on learning and explores specific scientific mechanisms. The conclusion from the experiment: learning (at least in roundworms) is better when roundworms have been fasting. Perhaps, then, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day after all.

 

Article 3

Research question: What is the effect of different secondary driving tasks (ie. ell phone use, hands free cell phone use, radio playing) on cognitive distraction?

The goal of this research paper is to a system to measure cognitive distraction corresponding to secondary driving tasks. In the process, the study also shows the effect of such secondary driving tasks on reaction time to driving stimulus. This paper has lots of graphs available to look at. And with many variables to compare (ie. hands-free cell phone use vs handheld cell phone use, speech-to-text messaging vs talking to a passenger, etc.), students can come up with few different conclusions.

 

 

Putting it all together

Getting better at any tasks requires practice. And, getting better at developing conclusions and supporting it with evidence and reasoning requires CER practice too. We want to make it applicable and relevant for students by pulling data and graphs from real science research for them to evaluate. Hopefully, a side benefit will be that students will feel like scientists by evaluating real science research and thinking as scientists do. Click on the link below and receive copies of our handouts to this activity.

 

Until next time, keep it REAL.

 

Resources

Handout(s): 09 – CER Practice Handouts

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CER is an awesome format to teach science students, but CER examples are lacking. CER stands for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning. It is a great format for writing explanations is it serves to tie together findings, data, and scientific principles. I am beginning to use CER with my classes and I love it. Unfortunately, while there are CER examples of student and, perhaps, popular school lab work, there is a lack of CER examples connected to REAL scientific research. And, that’s part of the problem with teaching CER. How can we get students to adopt a format for which there is a lack of real examples from real scientific research?

 

Part of the difficulty with coming up with our own CER examples from science journals is due to the articles themselves. Namely, science research journals are tedious and difficult to read. And, they’re also time consuming to dumb down for high school students. And, finding a research article that students will find interesting is also a problem. Thus, where can we find real science articles that we can use for CER examples?

 

We found an excellent source of articles to use for CER examples. These articles are fun to read and many are available online. And, all of them are recognized by Harvard. We summarized the 3 we liked into infographics for you to download at the end of the post.

 

Getting Articles From Ignoble (yes, that’s a word) Science

Our source of research articles for CER examples comes from the list of Ig Nobel Prize winners. The Ig Nobel prize is awarded by Harvard every year for science that makes people laugh. It is the antithesis of the Nobel Prize. And, many of the articles do make us laugh because of how absurd the research topics can be. From determining the most painful part of the body to get a bee sting to determining whether or not knuckle cracking causes arthritis to discovering that white horses are more “horsefly-proof”, Ig Nobel prize research is really fun. And, the articles are generally less intensive to read (ie. less jargon). Best of all, Ig Nobel Prize research also follows scientific method principles, which makes illustrating CER simple.

 

The complete list of Ig Nobel Prize winners is published online. We chose 3 of our favourites and developed 3 CER examples (and accompanying infographics).

 

2015 Ig Nobel Prize in Entomology

REFERENCE: Michael L. Smith “Honey Bee Sting Pain Index by Body Location” PeerJ, 2014, 2:e338, https://peerj.com/articles/338/

 

2009 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine

REFERENCE: “Does Knuckle Cracking Lead to Arthritis of the Fingers?”, Donald L. Unger, Arthritis and Rheumatism, vol. 41, no. 5, 1998, pp. 949-50.

 

2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics

REFERENCE: “An Unexpected Advantage of Whiteness in Horses: The Most Horsefly-Proof Horse Has a Depolarizing White Coat,” Gábor Horváth, Miklós Blahó, György Kriska, Ramón Hegedüs, Balázs Gerics, Róbert Farkas and Susanne Åkesson, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 277 no. 1688, pp. June 2010, pp. 1643-1650.

 

Putting it all together

CER examples can be both fun AND connected to real scientific research. The list of Ig Nobel prize winners is a good source of such research articles we can use to generate CER examples. Also, feel free to use our infographics with your students when teaching CER. If you’re interested getting a pdf copy of our infographics, click on the link below.

 

Resources

Handout: 04 – CER Infographics

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