Thing 7 - The Proof is in the Planning

More on the Harding Science Fair...

I didn't use the RPC exactly, but I did lay out a schedule of due dates from the day the project was assigned. We had a due date for each of the following:
* Brainstorm of possible topics
* Final research question
* Procedure
* Background research write-up with references
* Preliminary data
* Final data
* Draft layout of poster board

I had students turn in a copy of each of the above. I started a spreadsheet to track their progress, but I didn't keep up with it as much as I would like. I had a hard time tracking my 165 students. So I didn't chase down students who were behind as much as I would like. I reminded students of due dates and most kept themselves on track. But some were still running experiments the day before it was due.

I reserved the computer lab ahead of time and put all those dates on their due date calendar. That helped quite a bit. It also kept my stress down, so that I was not scrabbling for computer time at the last minute. I also felt like I gave my students access to the resources they need. On our first trip to the computer lab, I directed their research to the Grolier Encyclopedia Americana. I spent some time exploring all of SPPS's on-line learning resources the night before and found that Grolier gave the most appropriate information at the appropriate level for the background info on their science projects.