CER vs ERC vs ECR?

Data Moves & Topics December 9, 2021

Are these the same? Are they different? Can we really just change up the letters?

No, not really. Yes, kind of. Yes, absolutely!

CLAIMS - EVIDENCE - REASONING: WHAT IS IT?

This design pattern for instruction has hit the science world by storm in the last 5-10 years. And for good reason. We all want our students to be able to develop an argument or claim that is supported by evidence. And we definitely want them to be able to explain how the evidence they have selected supports their claim.

The CER approach comes from excellent research by Katherine L McNeill and Joseph S Krajcik (check out Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing). Their original framework included a second “R” for rebuttal that seems to have been mostly dropped from the approach (unfortunately).

This approach certainly mirrors well how professional scientists and textbook companies present information. First, we read about the claim from the data or “fact” to learn, then we read about what evidence supports that claim/fact, and then we read of the authors reasoning for how that particular set of data supports their claim/fact.

And over the years, it seems like countless graphic organizers, lesson plans, professional development hours, conference workshop sessions have been devoted to CER and science. On a recent google search for “CER graphic organizer” I got back 258,000 results in around 0.70 seconds! Wow :)

Checklists submitted to eBird from the Los Angeles Flood Control Basins each week that recorded Bald Eagles.

OK, SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Well when we work with data, we may want to rethink the order sometimes when we have students building out these skills.

Let’s use an example of data from eBird.

What do you notice in this graph first?

I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that you probably noticed:

• the heights of different bars, or

• the lack of bars in some places, or

• the clumps of bars in different time periods,

Or something else along similar lines…rather than first noticing that the annual patterns seems relatively consistent with an increase in mid April and early December and a decrease in the early fall.

In other words, you noticed evidence first and then with more time you thought through to a claim you could make about the counts based on that evidence.

If that is what we do when we are making sense of data why do so many of those graphic organizers, lesson plans, professional development hours, conference workshop sessions ask for the students to make their claim first and then share their evidence?

Well, I am not quiet sure…but here are some benefits of flipping CER up with data that I can share:

• There are benefits in helping our students to see that they should not immediately be able to identify a claim from data.

• There are benefits to learning a skill in multiple ways.

• There are benefits in stressing evidence finding first before we form a claim.

We, as adults conversant in working with data, do not first see the claim. So let’s stop teaching our learners to expect that they should be able to first see the claim. Remembering the bigger picture that we are trying to get them to form arguments from evidence. And there is no one way to do that, so instead let’s provide different ways to accomplish thinking process of developing an argument from evidence. Also, all humans are wired for confirmation bias, let’s not teach bad habits with data and graphs to perpetuate that approach to lead with the claim/conclusion and then find evidence to support your out-of-the-gate claim/conclusion.

ARE YOU SAYING I HAVE TO START OVER AND CHANGE EVERYTHING?

Not. At. All. Just go from what you have and revise your worksheets a bit. Or adjust your slide decks. Or adapt your facilitation notes.

Another recent workshop participant shared “Science doesn’t always happen in a set order. It is ok to teach from different starting points.” I couldn’t have said it any better if I tried.

So enjoy this new freedom of the order of your CER or ERC or ECR :)

LOOKING FOR MORE?

• Check out the February 2020. Data Literacy 101: What can we actually claim from our data? Science Scope 43(6): 20-26.

• Sign up to participate in the Data Literacy Series #6 “Draw Conclusions & Make Inferences from Data” workshop to dive into helping students with their CER and other ways to interpret data.