P-E-E-L-ing Science Open-Ended Questions
It is a common difficulty for many students to get the full 2-3 marks for open-ended questions, and some mistakenly think that longer answers are better.
Students’ answers need to be concise and accurate, and show an understanding of the scientific reasoning behind their interpretation of the given phenomena.
In this post, I will share how to use the P-E-E-L framework to demystify this process of answering open-ended questions.
I did not invent it and it is a common strategy used by many Science teachers in different schools, albeit using different acronyms. The framework is particularly useful for questions of the “explain” variety, as I will demonstrate with an example below. The rest of the post will explain how to arrive at the complete answer that is provided in the example.
Many students would write their answer as: Material C as it is a good conductor of heat.
Two major points are missing in this incomplete answer:
1. How do you know it is a good conductor of heat?
2. Why does the base of the cooking pot need to be a good conductor of heat.
P is for Purpose
The first step is for the student to identify the purpose of the question. What is/are the topic(s) tested? This is a mental step.
In this case, the topic is on heat transfer and conductors of heat. Most students can identify that and probably think of the following related concepts:
- The base of the cooking pot has to be made of a good conductor of heat.
- A good conductor of heat allows heat to pass through easily.
- Material C is the best conductor as the time taken for the wax to melt completely was the shortest.
Now, the student has to frame the ideas above into a complete answer. For that, we need E-E-L.
E is for Evidence
What evidence is provided in the question that shows the effect of a scientific concept? Study the diagrams and the data given, be it in a graph or table. What was the state of things before and after the experiment was carried out? This is the beginning part of the written answer.
From the table, we see that the ring of wax on the rod made of material C took the shortest time to melt completely. This given information is the evidence.
E is for Explain
Explain, using science concepts, what the evidence shows.
Material C was the best conductor of heat and allowed heat to pass through the most easily. This explains why it took the ring of wax on the rod made of material C the shortest time to melt completely.
L is for Link
Link the concept back to answering the question. How does the concept answer the question?
Having the heat to pass through the base of the cooking pot easily will cook the food quickly.
Crafting the final answer
So, putting the three parts together, the final complete answer would be:
Material C. The ring of wax on the rod made of material C took the shortest time to melt completely (evidence), hence material C was the best conductor of heat and would allowed heat to pass through the base of the cooking pot most easily (explain) and cook the food quickly (link).
I hope that this has helped to clarify exactly what is expected to score the full 2-3 marks when your child is asked to “explain”. Like any skill, it takes consistent and conscious practice to master. So get your child to start P-E-E-L-ing today!
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