Help students ask a question they can investigate and back up their answers with evidence. Discuss whose experience matters and choose a change small enough to test and review. Make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and has a way to contribute. As the work develops, ask what they've observed, what they're assuming and what they still don't know. Help them compare the result with where they started and revise their explanation. Leave room for groups to reach different conclusions.
Talk it through
- What can the group investigate within the time and access it actually has?
- Whose participation or experience is missing from the evidence?
- What finding would lead the group to change its proposed next step?
Try this next
- Help the group state a focused question and name the people affected by it.
- Agree responsibilities, a manageable test and an appropriate way to record observations.
- Review the evidence with the group and ask it to explain a next step and the limits of its conclusion.