I finally found some data that I wanted to use! There have been a lot of articles in the news on the increased cases of whooping cough in Ca, and especially in LA and San Bernardino Counties this year. However, some of the data on standard sites, like LA County Public Health, aren't completely up to date. So students will have to do some searching and compiling data from a variety of sources. In addition, like everyone else, I don't have a lot of time in my class to teach each component of the model in one big package. So I have an overall plan of introducing parts of the model as the semester unfolds.
One of the first units I do in my micro class is on the history of microbiology. I go over a lot of scientists and events. I think I will introduce Creat a Graph by having student pairs graph some data I already present on Semmelweiss and maternal deaths during childbirth. Then I would have groups of students students creat glogs on their favorite character or event and post them online for comments/critiques.
A little later in the course, during a unit on the flu I will have students look at some data and work on the "argument" portion of the assignment. Then about 1/2 way through the course they would do the whopping cough assignment bringing all the components together. Finally, I'm thinking of doing a final exercise where the students do the activity but on separate topics...thinking this could be a possibility for the final project of this course too. I would have them do something beyond the glog....more to come...
I like your idea of spreading out your on-line data projects over time and matching up with things you already do. The whooping cough data sounds interesting and would allow some good discussions.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to hear what your students conclude after doing their research on whooping cough. I read an article the other day that said that the largest population of mothers who were not getting their children vaccinated against whooping cough because of the autism link was highly educated white women. They sited their reasoning as personal anecdotal evidence. I am wondering if you would see the same trend.
ReplyDeleteWell, part of the reason that I do particular topics for projects is because of the media attention to the autism issue--we talk a lot about vaccines in my class. I try to present the science and not the celebrity experts. It would be interesting to find those numbers; is the disease rising in that population, and how does that compare to other populations (hispanics)? I've seen similar reports, and with other diseases like mumps. But there are a lot of factors. Would be great for them to really find some good data and think it through. Thanks!
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