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Teacher Tip: How can I make a "class set" of sensor data with only one sensor?
Teacher Tip: How can I make a "class set" of sensor data with only one sensor?

I want to share sensor data with my students.

Trevor Register avatar
Written by Trevor Register
Updated over a week ago

Overview

As a chemistry and physics teacher for 10 years, I've come to learn many things about teaching in the classroom. My biggest lesson learned: Science is expensive. Even once I had sensors for my classroom, I rarely had enough to share them with every one of my students. So, we would often do "Class Cases" where we designed the procedure and collected data as a class, then the students analyzed the data on their own. This method is VERY doable in Pivot Interactives!

Step 1: Get to the Editor...

To push sensor data to your class, you will want to collect the data while in the activity edit mode. There are a few ways to get there:

From your class:

This is a multi-click process. However, it ensures that you are working with the correct activity EVERY time.

  1. From the "My Classes" view, click on the name of the class you are working with. This will take you to the Class page.

  2. From the Class page, click on the name of the activity you want to collect data in. This will take you to the Scores page.

  3. From the Scores page, click on the title of the activity at the top. This will open the preview page.

  4. In the preview page, click the "Edit" button on the top right. This will open the editor.

From the library:

When you're in your library with the activity, the activity will have an "edit" button. Click this to reach the editor.

From the activity preview:

If you are viewing the activity preview, you simply need to click the "Edit" button in the activity header.

Step 2: Connect the sensor to the "Pre-populated Value" Data Table

Once you're in the editor, head on over to the "Data Table and Graph" component that you are working with. This is where you will connect your sensor. If you're doing this activity as a class, you may want to project this screen on the board or share your screen with your class.

Proceed to collect the Bluetooth sensor data as normal. This is just YOUR workspace.

Step 3: Save and Refresh

Once all of the data is collected, scroll to the bottom of the editor and click either save options. This will update the activity to include this data in the preview. If you students have already opened the not-populated activity, they simply need to refresh the page to get all of the data.

Troubleshooting and Other Tips

  • If you did all of this and your data is not showing, you may have one of the following problems:

    • You could have put your data in the wrong question.

    • You could have put your data in the "Correct Answers" and not the "Pre-populated Value."

    • You could have put your data in the wrong activity.

  • Each activity will only save one set of prepopulated values. Meaning, if you use the activity over multiple classes, each trial will overwrite the last one. If you want each class to have their OWN data set, you will need to make unique copies of the activity for each class. If you do this, make sure to access the copy from the "My Class" page to ensure that you get the correct copy. Also, update the titles to make sure that they are easily identifiable.

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