Critical thinking requires that we dig beneath the surface of organizational issues to explore multiple views, context, and aspects of knowing. In this exercise, students explore these deeper issues with the question: Are incentives effective? A hypothetical case unfolds to show how two consulting groups can arrive at very different…

How can educators immerse high school students in a real murder case investigation that will require them to draw upon and practice the critical thinking, literacy, and reasoning skill sets so highly valued under the Common Core, the C3 Framework and the 21st Century skills rubric? As an attorney and former high school teacher, the author knew…

Students need to have a basic understanding of research methods before obtaining a communication degree in order to become an intelligent consumer of research--someone who is able to read, understand, explain, and critically evaluate communication and other research reported in scholarly journals as well as in the popular press. These skills are…

This article explains four kinds of inquiry exercises, different in purpose, for teaching advanced-level high school and college students the hypothetico-deductive (H-D) method. The first uses a picture of a river system to convey the H-D method's logic. The second has teams of students use the H-D method: their teacher poses a hypothesis…

This article presents engaging interactive hypothesis tests which can be conducted with students very efficiently.

A laboratory experiment was designed for undergraduate students, in which the outcome of an easy single-step organic synthesis with well-defined conditions was not elucidated until the end of the exercise. In class, students predict and discuss the possible products using their knowledge of reaction mechanisms. In the laboratory, they learn how to…

We describe an activity that allows students to experience the full process of a statistical investigation, from generating the research question, to collecting data and testing a hypothesis. Implementation of the activity is described both with and without use of clickers, handheld remotes that allow instant data collection.

An in-class activity is described that can be used not only to motivate hypothesis testing, but also to understand and compute the p-value and power in a statistical test. (Contains 3 figures.)

This bioacoustics activity combines concepts in invertebrate taxonomy, animal communication, and acoustical physics while providing a unique opportunity for physics and biology teachers to collaborate and introduce their students to an exciting, interdisciplinary research field. Here, we propose a lab-and field-based activity that uses hydrophones…

This paper describes three spreadsheet exercises demonstrating the nature and frequency of type I errors using random number generation. The exercises are designed specifically to address issues related to testing multiple relations using correlation (Demonstration I), t tests varying in sample size (Demonstration II) and multiple comparisons…

Fourteen students in "Comparative Linguistics: American Sign Language & English" (ASL 220) embarked on a class project focused on linguistic variation during the spring 2007 semester at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC). This class project required students to apply various skills learned in the course, including…

Research-like experiences range from relatively "canned" labs that are highly controlled by the instructor (such as those described in Lord and Orkwiszewski 2006) to more individually designed projects (e.g., Switzer and Shriner 2000; Wyatt 2005). This article describes a laboratory approach that allows for many of the benefits of independent or…

An introduction to hypothesis testing using a mathematician's claim that his dog knows calculus and can intuit a minimum path.

Describes a classroom project that allows students to learn the scientific method by going through the entire process of data collection, hypothesis generation, data analysis, and hypothesis testing. This instructional activity concerns "book carrying behavior" and is aimed at introductory anthropology students. (KH)

Describes software which was developed to help collaborating pupils test hypotheses. Discusses use of the software by 9-14 year-old pupils in Scotland, comparing their activity with that of similarly aged pupils who worked with otherwise equivalent software which lacked any prompts. (Author/AEF)