Summary
This project developed out of students’ interest in finding out more about driving habits of the student body at our school. In this project, students were asked to create survey questions for the student body and evaluate the results of the survey. Then the students researched scientific experiments that tested reaction time. Using their research as a guide, the students developed inquiry labs to determine factors that affected reaction time. In these inquiry labs, they tested students at our school in order to learn more about these factors. Then the students analyzed a scenario for an undistracted driver and for a distracted driver using the results from the inquiry labs. They synthesized the results of the survey and their lab in order to create a PSA to help spread their own words of driver safety. The objective was to help students to think about making good choices when they are behind the wheel.
TIPC Ratings
This project falls in the ideal/target category because students collected and synthesized information to address an authentic task. Students conducted a survey of the student body and collected information regarding the student body’s driving habits. The students reflected on the validity of the information gathered through the discussion forum. Next, the students used websites to gather information on experiments used to test reaction times. Students’ research varied according to the direction of each student, and a variety of resources and strategies were used. Through this research, students developed ideas about factors that affect reaction times. Once the students tested their ideas, they presented their labs to the class for an open forum discussion.
This project falls into the ideal/target category because the students used communication and collaboration tools to develop a powerful message that will be sent to the student body. First, the students communicated and collaborated with each other through the discussion forum in SchoolSpace to identify a need to inform teens about distracted driving habits. Next, a survey was written by the students to collect information about the driving habits of their peers. This survey was written through Quia and posted on School Space. The survey was advertised through our school live morning announcements to encourage school wide participation. The students reviewed the results of the survey and then reflected on the results in a discussion forum. Several students suggested ideas for improved surveys.
Google docs was used to compile lab results for the different physics classes in order that the students could review all the reaction time labs that were performed. A second discussion forum was used to compare the lab results. Students assessed what factors that were tested had the largest impact on reaction times and stopping distances through the forum.
The students’ final product was to create a prezi that included a summary of their findings along with a public service announcement on the hazards of distracted driving. The students’ PSAs will be featured on OUR SCHOOL the week prior to prom.
This project addresses critical thinking and problem solving in the ideal/target category because of the real issue of distracted driving among teens. Students made informed decisions about what factors affect reaction time by first collecting data about the student body and then using digital tools to research experiments about reaction time. After reviewing their research, they developed labs to gather data using online evaluation techniques. They analyzed this data by extrapolating data points from an Excel graph in order to convert their collected reaction times into meaningful stopping distances for a moving car. The students justified their conclusions through an open forum discussion. Finally, they assimilated this information into an organized body of work in order to educate their peers about the hazards of distracted driving.
This lesson falls in the Ideal/target category. Students synthesized existing knowledge about distracted driving habits with self-generating knowledge collected through their inquiry labs to create a public service announcement for the student body. This project challenged them to reflect upon their driving habits and to produce a product that would educate their peers on the hazards of distracted driving. Instead of hearing the same rhetoric from adults about distracted driving, students developed a product that would reach out to their peers and communicate their authentic results about distracted driving.
Student Artifact
