Defining Operationally

At the end of the session the participants are expected to:

1. identify the different process skills in the development of Science ideas particularly defining operationally.

2. understand how we use the Science process skills not only in teaching but in everyday life

3. appreciate the importance of process skills by performing the activities correctly

Define the following pictures in one word.

Materials: yellow and green metacard, manila paper, markerProcedure:1. Each group will be receiving white and red metacards and words to be define in two ways.2. In your white metacards, write conceptual definition or definitions coming from the dictionary. Then write your own definition in the red metacards.

Intelligence is the score obtained on a specific IQ test 

Intelligence is the capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar formsof mental activity; 

aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings.

-is forming a definition that is based on what you do or what you observe..

-is a definition framed in terms of students’ experiences.

it tells how something acts, not what it is..

Example: a pie-eating competition is operationally defined as a competition in which one eats pies.

operational definition of the term weight of an object, would be "weight is the numbers that appear when that object is placed on a weighing scale".

According to it, the weight can be any of the numbers shown on the scale after, including the very moment the object is put on it.

- define variables or phenomena which can not be measured directly

Example: Changes in temperature may not be

defined operationally because it can be measured using thermometer but when we discuss plants, we can define it operationally through its colors, shapes and physical characteristics

-states how to measure a variable in an experiment

Example: The group of researchers did an

investigation on the effects of Vitamin E on the “endurance of a person”

- The variable “endurance of a person” could be defined operationally in many different ways.

- a. The number of hours a person could stay awake.

- b. The distance a person could run without stopping.

- c. The number of jumping jacks a person could do before gets tired.

1. The need for operational definitions is fundamental when collecting all types of data.

For example, data collected will be erroneous if those completing the checks have different views of what constitutes a fault at the end of a glass panel production line.

1. Identify the characteristic of interest.

2. Select the measuring instrument.

3. Describe the test method.

4. State the decision criteria.

5. Document the operational definition

6. Test the operational definition.

1. You may have experience landslide or seen in television. Write a description of landslide based on your experience or based on what you have seen.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Find the meaning of landslide in a dictionary or a science book. Record it below.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How is your definition similar in the book? ___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________4. How is your definition different from the book?

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A primary school has a program for increasing student’s enjoyment of reading.

Think at least 4 ways that ”enjoyment of reading” could be operationally defined.

1.Amount of time students voluntarily spend at the reading table.

2.Number of references to books read during sharing time.

3.Number of voluntary book reports.

4.Number of books taken home

An investigation is underway to see how the intial temperature of a liquid affects the amount of evaporation.

Describe at least three ways to see how the initial temperature of a liquid affects the amount of evaporation.

Measure the depth of the liquid. Measure it again twenty-four hours later.

2.Pour a known quantity of liquid into an open container.Measure its volume again three hours later.

3.Weigh the container of liquid. Twenty minutes later, weight again. The difference is the amount of evaporation

You want to operationally define the variable “size of a person” .

Write at least 4 ways this variable could be defined operationally

• 1.The reading in kilograms obtained when a person steps on a scale.

• 2.The smallest number showing when a person stands against a ruler which extends from the floor up.

• 3.The amount of water that overflows when a person is submerged in a full bathtub.

• 4.The amount of tape required to encircle the chest, waist and hips

• Directions: Identify the definitions given. Write whether the definition is a conceptual or operational definition.

1. Weight is the numbers that appear when that object is placed on a weighing scale

2. Sedimentary rocks are made of bits of matter joined together.

3. Typhoon is a strong wind which can destroy houses and cut trees.

4. Speed is the slow movement of the balL

5. Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge.

6. The amount of plant growth is the distance of the uppermost leaf to the soil.

7. Progesterone is the hormone which controls the menstrual cycle.

8. Concern for the environment is the number of times a person throws garbage in the trash can.

9. Reproduction is the ability of the living things to produce more of their kind.

10. Good politician is defined as the number of school building and infrastructure he had built.

1. OPERATIONAL 2. CONCEPTUAL 3.OPERATIONAL 4. OPERATIONAL 5.CONCEPTUAL6. OPERATIONAL 7. CONCEPTUAL8. OPERATIONAL 9. CONCEPTUAL10. OPERATIONAL

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