During data collection, students often encounter challenges. Therefore, you may ask students to first practice collecting a small amount of data (called a “pilot”) to identify and address any challenges before full data collection.
These challenges can be highly beneficial to deepen students' understanding of data collection and enhance data analysis. For example, during a pilot students may realise that they need to:
- improve their measuring skills.
- learn to create clear survey questions.
- develop increasingly robust sampling methods.
- learn how and why we collect data.
Running into these challenges enriches student learning if you follow up with explicitly teaching or reviewing these skills, as they experience the purpose of the skill in a meaningful context.
Discuss with your colleagues:
- What opportunities do you provide students to enable them to work out what they need to do?
- What practicalities would you need to consider to ensure that students' experience is purposeful?