How Things Work - Doha Academy of Tertiary Studies

148 QUaLItatIVe ReSeaRCH
BOX 8.1. (cont.)
FiGuRe 8.3. Five-color line drawing submitted by Harry in his report.
baseline numbers represented students, with 13 students having provided
Bubblicious measurements, and that the vertical measure was
bubble size in centimeters. Grogan confirmed that later. I asked her
also if it was because the largest of all bubbles recorded had come from
Bubblicious, one of 23 centimeters diameter, that it was declared the
winner. Grogan said, “No,” that the conclusion about biggest bubbles
was made before the graphing had been done. The five means had been
compared, and Bubblicious had the largest mean. So, although I did not
witness that fourth class period, the students apparently had compared
average sizes for the five brands and named the winner, completing the
experiment originally planned.
The experiment had begun in enthusiasm, had moved through
trauma, had become pretty much a follow-the-rules routine, had
included teaching of a misunderstanding, and had ended with a product
that needed further questioning, which it did not get. It was apparent
that Grogan did not understand all the mathematics involved in the
exercise and asked only Miss Jackson for help. I have described this
(cont.)