Content Review of 5 CODAPified Lessons

[retabak]

Looking for feedback on lesson content of CODAP Data Science Pathway!

1. displaying-categorical-data
2. table-methods
3. method-chaining
4. random-samples
5. grouped-samples

I've collected some stray thoughts here.

[schanzer]

Displaying Categorical Data

• "Open the Animals Dataset in CODAP" - You need instructions walking them through it, ideally starting with a link they can click. It looks like CODAP already has a notion of a shared link, so you could make a CODAP starter file that already has this set up
• "Click the graph icon from the menu in the upper left." is that really a menu? I'd call it a toolbar, but either way it would be useful to have a screenshot here.
• Add note re: add-blockers, which break at least the random scatterplot (and probably others)
• The WB pages here that use pie-charts sort of come out of left field. Either remove them, or add a small section teaching pie charts so students have context
• Would it make more sense to have students do the wb pages after playing with CODAP?
• "Explore other data displays in CODAP" - I don't see a lot of options when I click the ruler:
• The wb pages don't really seem to fit what CODAP can do (unless I'm using CODAP wrong?)

Table Methods

• "Does sorting animals-table produce a new table, or change the existing one? How do you know?" I assume the answer here is "no", to set us up for why we use Transformers in the next section. If this is accurate, we need a third question that justifies why CODAP's default behavior has limitations.
• In the sorting transformer, students see the Contract UI above the formula expression. But you don't explain what it's for, and then later on you refer back to it using Domain and Range. You need a section in here that explains what contracts are.
• I've been purposefully using the same browser window for CODAP and reading the lesson plan, which forces me to leave the lesson to work in CODAP. Students won't have the lesson plan in front of them either! It took me six tries to correctly filter the table. You should add some explicit instruction, reminding students to use quotation marks are type TRUE in all caps. It might also be valuable to encourage them to try NOT doing those things, and see what happens.
• There's a stray reference in there to the .build-column method. :)
• You suggest adding a cute column for puppies and kittens, which explicitly requires the use of and. I think that's a fine idea! But you may need to tell kids what and is all about (and maybe or, while you're at it!). This could also be part of the lesson text for Pyret as well.

Method Chaining

• "we can combine boolean tests on a single function" -- don't you mean Transformer? ;-)
• Transformers are sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. We should be consistent (check other lessons, too!)
• Your example has students convert pounds to kilos, but I wouldn't assume they know how to do that. You'll need to tell them (or are you holding off on the DR, to resurrect the worksheet?)

Random Samples

• Wow, the sampler plugin is cool! Definitely need some screenshots here
• The ability to do multiple samples is a nice feature. Low-priority, but I wonder if there's some lesson content (wb pages?) that could be added here to take advantage of that?

Grouped Samples

• In the asciidoc, you should just have the first investigate use bar charts for both Pyret and CODAP, rather than pie-charts for one and bars for the other.

[retabak]

I've revised the "Displaying Categorical Data" lesson. @schanzer - do you want to take another look before @flannery-denny does? Some responses to your questions/ comments below.

Displaying Categorical Data

• "Open the Animals Dataset in CODAP" - You need instructions walking them through it

  I've added a hyperlink. If more instructions are needed, let me know.

• "Click the graph icon from the menu in the upper left." is that really a menu? I'd call it a toolbar,

  I changed wording and added a screenshot (which is awkwardly positioned; not sure how to fix that)._

• Add note re: add-blockers, which break at least the random scatterplot (and probably others) -

  Done.

• Would it make more sense to have students do the wb pages after playing with CODAP? -

  Yes! Changed the order.

• "Explore other data displays in CODAP" - I don't see a lot of options when I click the ruler: -

  I added some additional teacher instructions (in "Launch") to address this. Options appear depending on which attributes have been selected (or not) for the X and Y axis._

• The wb pages don't really seem to fit what CODAP can do (unless I'm using CODAP wrong?) -

  I think they do - except for worksheets that include pie charts. I've deleted some pie-chart focused worksheets from the CODAPified lesson. There's a worksheet or two with just one pie chart, which I left for the time being_

Table Methods I ALSO started looking at "Table Methods," but wanted to run some questions by you, first. (Haven't yet made any revisions to this lesson.)

• "Does sorting animals-table produce a new table, or change the existing one? How do you know?" I assume the answer here is "no", to set us up for why we use Transformers in the next section. If this is accurate, we need a third question that justifies why CODAP's default behavior has limitations.

  CODAP's default behavior is to change the table, not to create a new one. So, you're thinking the third question should be something like, "Can you think of a situation where CODAP's default behavior - to alter the table each time we sort it - would inhibit more sophisticated data analysis?" That feels weak; I bet you've got something better!

• In the sorting transformer, students see the Contract UI above the formula expression. But you don't explain what it's for, and then later on you refer back to it using Domain and Range. You need a section in here that explains what contracts are.

  When working on this, I recognized that contracts appear out of the blue, but opted to leave it for now because I was thinking that contracts may need to be introduced alongside the design recipe. I'm still not sure where / when that will happen, or what it will entail. If you think I can just add a little section about contracts to this lesson and that will suffice - then I'm happy to do exactly that. Let me know.

Will work on remaining 3 lessons asap.

[schanzer]

@retabak the changes look good! Thanks for turning them around so quickly. I pushed a small commit (c23041281) which uses asciidoctor "blocks" to wrap .lesson-instruction around multiple things. I'd recommend taking a gander just so you can use it in the future.

As for Table Methods:

• If you don't have a particular wording in mind that feels good, why even ask them if CODAP makes a new table or changes the original one? I wasn't saying you needed a third question, just asking why bother with the first one if we don't do anything with the answer.
• I think Contracts should be introduced as soon as students see them (in this case, well before the DR!). It doesn't need to take up a ton of time, but we should include a screenshot of the Transformers interface with an explanation of what the contract says and how to read it.

[retabak]

@schanzer Updated Table Methods lesson! I think I responded to all feedback.

A few notes:

• I added a blurb about contracts but it's brief. Let me know what you think. ALSO - I couldn't figure out how to get a numbered list inside the strategy box, which is why the numbered list is just super spaced out. Help?
• Re: "You suggest adding a cute column for puppies and kittens, which explicitly requires the use of and. I think that's a fine idea! But you may need to tell kids what and is all about (and maybe or, while you're at it!). This could also be part of the lesson text for Pyret as well." ------ Didn't add anything in for now because the lesson is already pretty long (also "and" stuff is in the method chaining lesson). Thinking it might make more sense to omit the "cute" example or change it to something simpler. Let me know what you think.

Random question: When I've added images, for some reason my computer is naming them ".PNG" rather than ".png" (like all the other image files we use). Is this a problem? I can go through and fix if needed; have only added 3 or so images at this point. (I think I should probably postpone adding images anyhow, because it's a bit of a pain in the butt; as I ask this question, I am recalling your advice to add them all at the end.)

[schanzer]

@retabak

1. I think this is a fine place to start. Can you use a screenshot for which the range is something other than any? This just happens to be the most confusing one of all. Maybe it would be useful to send them on a scavenger hunt as well: "find a transformer whose range is X..."? I pushed a fix for the numbered items, which requires (get this) asciidoc column format a, which means "any asciidoc directives could appear inside this column". Check out commit cfffacc42 to see what it looks like.

2. yeah, I'd just remove this

3. It doesn't look like you removed the third question (about codap's behavior). Are you still planning to?

4. Filename capitalization will matter in some cases. Surely there's a way to tell windows to use lowercase extensions? What program do you use for images?

ALSO When you're using directives like @ifproglang{}, make sure you don't mix them in with content unless they are truly inline. For example, your latest commit added the following:

* Can you fill in the code for the other grouped samples? @ifproglang{pyret}{
* When you're done, type these definitions into the Definitions Area.}

The ifproglang appears in the first bullet, but it has nothing to do with that bullet at all! I'd recommend the following instead:

* Can you fill in the code for the other grouped samples? 
@ifproglang{pyret}{
* When you're done, type these definitions into the Definitions Area.
}

[flannery-denny]

@retabak. Ask @schanzer to talk you through how to use directives to signal which part of the lesson is what you expect teachers to say out loud to teachers in lesson plans.

You are not using those distinctions so the formatting is inconsistent (lots of randomly bolded text) and it's easier to learn now than for us to go fix all of the pages later.

(I don't remember, but I could figure it out by looking at lesson plans I've worked on if he doesn't remember.)

One of us should add that information to the useful asciidoc commands file. Are you down to take that on?

[flannery-denny]

Displaying Categorical Data -

• [x] Directions say "Notice that when you hover over a particular dot, the table row for that animal is also highlighted in blue. " That doesn't happen for me unless I click on a dot. RT - Weird! I just checked and I only need to hover! Maybe it's a Windows/Mac thing? I suppose we should say "select a dot" anyhow so people don't expectantly hover? FD - Sounds good to me
• [x] "Experiment with highlighting multiple table rows." In order to do this I lose the graph. Directions should let teachers know that they once they click out of the graph in order to select the rows they will need to click on the graph again. Interesting, again. Was your graph positioned directly on top of the table? That's the only reason I can think of that the graph would disappear behind the table. I think CODAP's default is for the graph to appear alongside the table. Ooooh, I bet you had the CODAP browser occupying 50% of your monitor space, so everything was squished and the graph was forced to appear right on top of the table. Given that students will very likely have CODAP occupying the full screen, I'm not sure if it's necessary to address this? Let me know what you think. FD - You're right - I guess it's ok to leave it out.
• [x] In the investigation, I found it really difficult to drag the attributes on to the axes. (I finally found a very specific spot to drop it on the y-axis and I gave up on trying to find the specific spot on the x-axis that worked after several attempts.) I would recommend having people click on the axes and selecting the attributes from the drop-down menu. It's impossible to mess up and they can discover the other method on their own. also very interesting! I had no difficulties dragging but I hear what you're saying and will make the change.
• [x] When you instruct us to select the configuration icon, I don't know what I'm looking for. I had to click them all to discover that you're talking about the one that looks like a bar graph.
• [x] Now, make a bar chart showing how many animals there are of each species... I would add by changing the variable on the x-axis to species
• [x] Curious why you decided to save the ruler directions for common misconceptions. To me you are revealing a new feature here rather than discussing something that people are likely to have gotten confused by earlier in the lesson.
• [x] In exploring other displays launch : "Have students open a scatterplot of randomly positioned points derived from the Animals Dataset."... _by clicking on the graph icon again.

[retabak]

Re: One of us should add that information to the useful asciidoc commands file. Are you down to take that on?

Yep! I'll take that on.

And, as you correctly observed, I was totally guessing about those directives/signals, so am grateful for the nudge.

[retabak]

@flannery-denny THANKS for the feedback! Sorry again about time lost trying to build these lessons.

I addressed and checked off 5 of your concerns - but wanted more feedback on the first two items. Let me know what you think.

[flannery-denny]

Table Methods:

Introducing Function Definitions

• [x] When you tell us to open the animals dataset in codap, there should be a link.
• [ ] I'm not totally clear on why the first section is title Introducing Function Definitions. RT: I need to chat with @schanzer to learn how to change this. Can't use @ifproglang directives in the section heading.
• [x] use directives to signal which part of the launch is being stated to students - also this doesn't really feel like a launch - it feels more like it's part of the directions for the investigation. I'd suggest that you have the teacher model how to sort one of the columns or a question like "how many of the animals names start with the letter m?" to get them wishing that the list were sorted alphabetically or some combination of the two? RT: Used your tip and adjusted launch to be more launch-like. Need to consult with @schanzer about proper use of directives.
• I love these synthesize questions

Order Tables:

• [x] There should be directions about where to find the Transformers Plugin RT: Added screenshot.
• [ ] I had to read this sentence several times...

  The sort method consumes a dataset to sort, a formula (“key expression”), an indication of the type the formula evaluates to, and a sort direction (ascending or descending). RT: Lol, I stole this directly from the transformers documentation. (I noticed that in the one or two other instances where borrowed text, you had the same objection. I agree, however, it is a mouthful and not easily understood. I'm thinking maybe this is something for @schanzer and I to parse when we discuss the design recipe? Since SO many things are consumed, maybe we need to break down all of the things into categories of some sort? Not sure what the answer is here. Will keep thinking. Is there a way to visually clarify that the words "a dataset to sort" are one single input? In a Pyret lesson we use datatypes (capitalized) and then describe them. For example,a String (a dataset to sort) and a Boolean (true for ascending, false for descending).
  I don't know whether we use datatype terminology with CODAP. I'm curious what @schanzer and @shriram would say here about how the language we use to describe datatypes in Pyret translate to CODAP? RT: There is reference to "type" among the things that the sort transformer consumers.

• [ ] Not quite sure what to make of this introduction to contracts. It's pretty clear... and...

  1. In Pyret we would have introduced them already.
  2. In Pyret we would talk about write out the contract <Table>.filter :: (test :: (Row -> Boolean)) --> Table

• [ ] It has been the convention in Bootstrap lessons to capitalize parts of the contract... Name Domain Range. I see you using the lowercase versions of these words. The drop-down menus in CODAP have lower-case first letters but I'm happy to change this if we think it feels right.
• [x] Your example filter has boolean as its range and then your next question is to find a filter that has boolean as its range. I suggest changing one. woops! The example was different before. Removed that particular question.
• [x] You might want to acknowledge that the drop down menu now allows students to choose between the original table and the two new tables they've generated? (I see you actually did this in the filtering tables section - I recommend moving it here.) RT: Done.

Building Columns:

• [x] Instructions should include Name of New Attribute and collection to add to
• [x] The examples at the end show building columns that give a percentage of something. Can that be done in CODAP. If so, it makes to me that you would have them build a percentage column with the animals dataset before talking about its merits in other datasets. RT: This prompt comes right from the Pyret lesson. I'm not sure that building a percentage column would be relevant for the animals dataset? The synthesize question in the lesson is talking about a table that includes a column with the number of students in a school, and column with the number who identify as multi-racial. I suppose we could remove the example but I like it as a sort of extension. Perhaps we change the order of the synthesize questions so this one is last? I'm gonna do that...

[flannery-denny]

@retabak Generally speaking, I am seeing a lot of bolding and highlighting of things in your lesson plans that don't follow convention (Not your fault! This is part of the learning curve, but I wish you'd gotten feedback on it sooner...)

Lesson formatting used to be really bananas. We made directives to standardize it across lessons and make it easy to adjust for our entire repository if we were to decide we have better formatting ideas down the road. Directives allow us to flag functions, new vocab words, directions to students, etc. Nearly all bolding and highlighting in lesson plans should happen through those directives. Some of them are described in the useful asciidoc commands file. Whatever would be useful to you to know about and isn't there should be added. Holler if you need help making sense of it and you and @schanzer don't discuss it in the other conversation about directives I suggested. I won't comment about it in the other lessons I'm reading - assume you will generalize this feedback and make use of it in all lesson plan files.

[flannery-denny]

Chaining Methods

Design Recipe Practice

• [ ] It's a little hard to weigh in on whether this section works, since you're just linking to a worksheet that hasn't been made for CODAP yet so I couldn't test anything out. RT: Eager to start working on worksheets! Definitely recognize there's not much here to comment on.
• [x] The optional section talks about how to use and and or but doesn't actually give instructions for using them. I would suggest offering one or two prompts that would actually have students open CODAP and implement what you're describing. RT: This also came right from the Pyret instructions, but were modified a bit using @ifproglang. I do think some instruction was provided - but apparently not enough! I have updated them to be more actionable/ specific.

Chaining

• [x] "No more than 9 kilograms" is equivalent to "less than or equal to 9 kilograms" alternatively "under 9 kilograms" would be equivalent to "less than 9 kilograms". Not sure which you'd prefer, but pick one and make the criteria match. RT: Woops! Good catch, fixing.
• [x] This is a mouthful! Any other way you could say it? Once a transformers is saved, students can abstract over a particular computation that they want to perform on the data (the way functions in Algebra are abstractions over computations in arithmetic). RT: This also comes directly from the transformers documentation. But I agree, it's a mouthful and it was lazy of me to leave it like this! @schanzer or @flannery-denny , any ideas on making this more student-friendly / digestable -- yet still capture the same idea? Feeling stumped.
• [x] Do you want to add something about collections to add to to the directions for building the attribute? RT: This doesn't feel necessary to me since there's only one option on the dropdown menu. Do you think it's confusing to leave it out?
• [x] You talk us through exactly what to do for each step except for "Include only animals that weigh less than 9kg" RT: Added more instructions and also changed "less than" to "no more than"
• [x] The default dataset names are pretty cumbersome. If these were my students, I think I'd want to have them rename each of the datasets as a way of keeping track of what they've done. RT: Interesting. I know that the CODAP team who worked on this liked the default dataset names for their resemblance to function notation in algebra. I see that they're a little cumbersome, but students never need to type them out; they're just choosing them from a drop-down menu. I think I disagree with you here, and like forcing kids to interpret the dataset names. (If a kid opted to rename the dataset on their own, I'd of course be fin with it - but wouldn't suggest it to my whole class, I don't think?) What do you think, @schanzer
• [x] I like this context, but I wonder if it has too many steps to be the introduction to chaining. Perhaps there's a context that only chains 2 or 3 transformers together that you could have the teacher do with the class as the launch. Another small context that pairs could do independently and then they could work up to this scenario? I think this is particularly important if you don't ask them to rename the datasets. RT: This is a good point. The Pyret lesson has students creating a "name tag" column, and that's not an option in CODAP--so I think I added in some layers in effort to match the complexity of adding in "name tag". I think I could remove "include only fixed animals" and that might be fine? I think I also felt it wouldn't be a big deal because chaining doesn't really require any new student knowledge. They literally just need to choose the appropriate dataset and apply the transformer. What do you think @flannery-denny @schanzer ?

[flannery-denny]

Grouped Samples

• [x] Reading the Launch of this lesson makes me think we need to include an image of the scatterplot that doesn't have the species labeled (for CODAP & PYRET!) after the first sentence and then move to the second sentence and the custom-image scatterplot.
• [x] I'm not seeing anything here that talks about codap

[flannery-denny]

Random Samples

• [x] Not sure why this lesson starts with a giant Do Now? RT: Hm. It's because the Pyret lesson starts this way. I'll fix. both.
• [x] "after a bit of noticing and wondering" if you are going to refer to this pedagogy I would suggest instructing the class to "notice and wonder" earlier in your direction giving.
• [x] You only want us to take 1 sample of 10, right? If so, say so.
• [x] "Have students share how much better their larger samples are at guessing the truth about the whole population." Let's reword this synthesize section so that it's more spacious / not so leading. RT: It's from the Pyret lesson. Will change in both places. @retabak need to still address this (10/19)

[flannery-denny]

@retabak. Done with feedback for now. Need to see how the other pages interplay with codap before giving more feedback on lesson plans.

[shriram]

The goal was to have Pyret and CODAP+T be highly compatible. The upper-/lower-case thing is a bit of a nuisance for sure. It's on my agenda to see what we can do about that. But we can use the same terminology for both; that way the transition to Pyret will be smoother ("remember datatypes? you already saw them…").

[flannery-denny]

@retabak Is this issue ready to be closed or are you still working on something?

[retabak]

@flannery-denny Closing!