Generating+&+Testing+Hypotheses

 Although commonly associated with science, the practice of ** generating and testing hypotheses ** involves the application or use of knowledge in any field. In its simplest form, it is a matter of asking, "If I do this, what might happen?" or saying "Now that I've made this prediction, how accurate did it turn out to be?" ** Generating and testing hypotheses ** is an instructional strategy that requires students to apply their knowledge and to use higher-level thinking skills by asking questions about what they know, finding ways to test those questions, and then explaining their conclusions.


 * Hypothesis generation and testing ** can be approached in either an inductive or deductive manner. In general, however, students produce better results when using the deductive thinking process where they apply current knowledge to make a prediction about a future action or event.

This strategy can be used in all sorts of teaching situations. For instance, a language arts teacher might be leading students through reading a novel and ask them to predict what actions the character will take next based on what they have read so far. Then as they read more, they discuss the accuracy of their predictions. Another example is the social studies teacher who poses a a big question like “What would the world be like today if the Nazis had won World War II?” Students are then asked to predict and investigate the feasibility of their predictions in a persuasive essay. Research shows that asking students to explain their hypotheses and conclusions in a variety of communication modes enhances their learning.


 * Application **

The Create a Graph site is pretty robust and easy to use. You can save and retrieve your graph by entering your email address (you're not required to create an account). Learn more about how to use Create a Graph here (plus several other tools you can use for this strategy).

Below is a sample graph using the results from our 8th Grade Technology Literacy results. Some questions we could explore include:
 * Why did we level off last year? Will we again?
 * What do you think happened in the 2007-2008 year? (note: it was a curriculum change)
 * Would the number of students enrolled affect the percentage deemed literate? What if there was a significant increase or decrease?
 * How do students new to the district affect our literate percentage? What if we separated those students out from the general population?
 * What if we separated out special education students?
 * What might happen if we switched from a multiple choice test to a portfolio-based assessment?



Megan Whitmore offers more information on this strategy on her wiki.