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Mar 3, 2022 · A Fair Test is based on just one difference or change (the Independent variable). In most experimental inquiries, we want to figure out if the change we make is actually causing the effect we see. In a fair test, it is important to only change one variable at a time.
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Designing a fair test of an idea — in formal science or in everyday life — means deciding what results you’ll be comparing, controlling variables, avoiding bias, and figuring out a way to distinguish chance differences from meaningful ones.
When planning a fair test investigation, to make it fair, we need to identify the variables. By planning for and conducting a fair test, students can make claims about how the variable they have changed in their investigation may have affected what is being measured and/or observed.
- Don't rush. Assessments that are thrown together at the last minute invariably include flaws that greatly affect the fairness, accuracy, and usefulness of the resulting evidence.
- Plan your assessments carefully. Aim not only to access your key learning goals but to do so in a balanced, representative way. If your key learning goals are that students should understand what happened during a certain historical period and evaluate the decisions made by key figures during that period, for example, your test should balance questions on basic conceptual understanding with questions assessing evaluation skills.
- Aim for assignments and questions that are crystal clear. If students find the question difficult to understand, they may answer what they think is the spirit of the question rather than the question itself, which may not match your intent.
- Guard against unintended bias. A fair and unbiased assessment uses contexts that are equally familiar to all and uses words that have common meanings to all.
Learn how to make a test fair when working scientifically with this Bitesize Science guide.
The six steps of the scientific method include: 1) asking a question about something you observe, 2) doing background research to learn what is already known about the topic, 3) constructing a hypothesis, 4) experimenting to test the hypothesis, 5) analyzing the data from the experiment and drawing conclusions, and 6) communicating the results ...
When children ask what is a fair test in science, the most important part of the answer should be that it is a test in which only one variable is changed, and the results are measured using the same method each time, to ensure that the results are correct.
