№ 001 · Reading literacy · Evaluate and reflect
Phones in class: opinion or data?
Students compare an opinion from a school newspaper with survey data and judge how far the data support the claim.
Material for students
Time to take phones out of lessons
The principal of School No. 12 proposes collecting phones before first period from January. “Students are constantly distracted,” he says. “At break, nobody talks to each other.” The parents' committee supported the idea.
What do you use your phone for in class?
More than one answer allowed. Illustrative data.
Questions
Teacher's guide
Skill: judging whether data support a claim. In the PISA framework this is “evaluate and reflect”, working with multiple sources.
Full answer: disagree or partly agree. 41% use phones for things unrelated to learning, but 58% use them for learning. The survey does not measure the effect of phones on learning; it only shows what they are used for.
Partial answer: the student refers to the data but uses only one figure, or does not say what the survey fails to measure.
Typical mistake: the student repeats the principal's words and agrees without looking at the numbers.
In your subject
History
Give a statement from the textbook and ask students to find sources that support or challenge it.
Geography
Compare an opinion about climate from a news item with data in a table.
Biology
Check a health promise from an advert against a study's results.
I used this task
Which grade and subject did you use it in, and how did students respond? Your experience helps improve the next tasks. Please do not include students' names or personal data.