Science Interactive Instructor Help Guides

Adding Experimentation Questions / Data Collection to a Lesson

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Data Collection and Exercise questions can be added to the Experimentation section in order to highlight particular concepts or adjust rigor. Exercise questions can also be hidden from students.

Note: Unlike questions, Data Collection panels authored by Science Interactive cannot be excluded from lessons, as they are an intrinsic part of the procedures.

The questions in a lesson cannot be rearranged, so we recommend making sure you plan ahead for what order you want them to be!

Data Collection

Data Collection panels allow students to record their results while completing procedures in the Experimentation section, demonstrating comprehension of the lesson material.

All Data Collection panels appear for students inside the "Data" panel in SI Cloud.

Data Collection is a great tool to promote academic integrity.

Many instructors add Image Upload panels as part of the procedures, requiring students to take and add photos of their experiments (including their name and date written on a piece of paper in the photo).

How to add Data Collection

1. In the Experimentation tab, select the exercise you would like to add Data Collection to.

HOL - Authoring - Google Chrome

2. Scroll past the Science Interactive-authored Data Collection panels and select "+Add Data Collection."

HOL - Authoring - Google Chrome

3. Select the data collection type you would like to create.

HOL - Authoring - Google Chrome

See information and instructions for authoring each available Data Collection type below.

Data Collection types

Data Table
HOL - Instance - Google Chrome

Data tables allow students to record measurements or short observation statements. The input cells of these tables may contain numeric or alphabetic characters.

See how to build a Data Table here.

Image Annotation
HOL - Authoring - Google Chrome

Image annotation data panels allow students to draw on images that you provide. This data collection type should not be used if students are required to label an image (see Image Labeling).

See how to build Image Annotation here.

Image Upload
HOL - Instance - Google Chrome

Image annotation data panels allow students to upload and apply labels to their own images. Image upload panels are commonly used when students need to upload graphs and visual proof-of-work photos. This is the most common type of image-labeling panel.

See how to build Image Upload here.

Essay Questions
HOL - Instance - Google Chrome

Essay questions allow students to use text and simple formulas in providing detailed answers to questions. Essay questions are sometimes used to receive detailed student observations as part of the procedure.

See how to build an Essay Question here.

Exercise Questions

Exercise questions are open-ended essay questions that ask students to interpret the data presented and collected in the Experimentation exercises. These short answer questions should provide the student an opportunity to explain concepts in their own words and to relate their data to these concepts.

How to add new Exercise Questions
  1. Enter the Question Customization tool if you are adding a question to an existing lesson or Custom Lesson Authoring if you are building a lesson from scratch.
  2. Open the lesson you want to customize, then follow the steps found here.

Exercise Question types

Essay Questions
HOL - Instance - Google Chrome

Essay questions allow students to use text and simple formulas in providing detailed answers to questions. Essay questions are sometimes used to receive detailed student observations as part of the procedure.

See how to build an essay question here

Essay questions added here differ from the "Data Collection" essay questions because these are placed at the bottom of the exercise pages. Data Collection essay questions appear for students inside the expandable "Data" panel in SI Cloud.

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