Review the Lesson Plan

Introduction Activity
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Ask students to think about the different ways their academic performance has been evaluated over the years. List their responses on the board. (If all students have only been evaluated the same way, share some of the different types of assessment with them: letter grades, conferences, GPAs, portfolios, rubrics, narratives, self-evaluations, etc.)
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Ask students to talk about which method(s) they preferred any why. Before beginning this discussion, have students define what they think a good assessment system would do, e.g, give them feedback on their performance relative to others in the class, give them constructive criticism, etc. After creating this list, ask them which type(s) of assessment would best meet these criteria, and why. Record their responses on the board.
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Next, ask students to name a strength and weakness of each type of assessment they listed.
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Write the words “qualitative” and “quantitative” data on the board. Ask students what they know about these types of data. If they don’t know what these words mean, ask them to look at the roots of the words for clues: (qual, quant). Explain what the words mean to the students, then ask them to categorize the types of assessment they listed earlier as “qualitative” or “quantitative” data.

Activity One
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Conduct a poll in which half the class gathers qualitative data, and the other half gathers quantitative data. (Later, these groups will switch roles.)
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Write the topic of the poll on the board:
Although the Internet brings people together via chatrooms, e-mail, etc., it ultimately isolates people from one another because they talk less face-to-face and over the phone.
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Break the class into two groups of equal size. Group one will begin as the qualitative group and group two will begin as the quantitative group.
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Tell the students from the qualitative group to each pick one person from the quantitative group to interview. The qualitative student should ask the quantitative student to respond to the statement, and record their response. Then, the quantitative student should ask the qualitative student to respond to the question using a scale of one to five. Give each student the appropriate STUDENT ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE- QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE handout.
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Once the students have gathered their data, ask both groups to compile and assess their findings using the information on their handouts.Note: Before asking students to compile and analyze their results, you may want to review the types of analyses described on the handouts with the students. If your students are rusty or unfamiliar with calculating percentages, they may need a review or guidance.
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Have each group share their data and findings.
Part two
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Now, have the groups switch roles. The qualitative group becomes the quantitative and vice versa. Have students conduct the poll again, and tell them to try to stay true to the opinions they expressed in part one. Each student will need another copy of the appropriate STUDENT ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE- QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE handout.
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After each group has shared their findings, ask the students to discuss the following questions as a class:
Which data, the qualitative or the quantitative, provided you with more information about people’s reactions to the poll topic? Why?
Which type of data was easier to analyze and consolidate? Why?
What types of information might be easier to collect using a qualitative approach? Why?
What types of information might be easier to collect using a quantitative approach? Why?
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Have students generate a list of the strengths and limitations of each kind of data and record on a piece of chart paper. From this list generate a list of do's and don'ts for data collection.
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Hand out the STUDENT ORGANIZER: ACTIVITY ONE-RESEARCH sheet and review sheet with students to make sure they understand the activity.Ask students to use the following Web sites/Presentation to help them answer the questions on the handout:
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Review handouts as a class.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/data/orgd.html

Print out and make copies of these organizers for your students:
· ACTIVITY ONE - QUANTITATIVE GROUP

· ACTIVITY ONE - QUALITATIVE GROUP

· ACTIVITY ONE - RESEARCH

· ACTIVITY TWO