Data Analysis

I will be covering the subject of eating disorders within the Teen Choices class that I am
in. We strategically put the eating disorders lesson in-between talking about nutrition and stress
management. It is important to teach freshmen about eating disorders because they are at the age
when eating disorders become more of a problem. Even if they do not have an eating disorder,
theres a good chance that they know someone that has one. Knowing how to recognize if a
friend or family member has an eating disorder and understanding why people develop them
could help to save lives. Freshmen year is a very difficult time for most students since it is a time
of transition, and that can cause stress. It is very common for students at that age to start
developing coping mechanisms and to become more self-conscious about their appearances. This
is the perfect combination for developing eating disorders. We want to try and teach our students
the dangers of having an eating disorder, how and why people might develop an eating disorder,
and what to do if they themselves or someone they know has an eating disorder.
My prediction is that the females in the class might be more familiar with the subject of
eating disorders, and therefore will do better on the pre and post-quiz and the class projects. I
will be assessing the students growth I knowledge by having the students do a pre-quiz before
we talk about any of the subject matter, and then they will do the same quiz at the end of the
lesson. During the lesson I will be checking for student understanding with two different
activities. The first activity is a worksheet the students will do individual or with a partner. The
worksheet has a list of characteristics that are common to the three different eating disorders we
are talking about. The students will have to organize the different characteristics under the
corresponding eating disorder. For example, the students would place the characteristic of tooth
erosion and esophagus problems under the bulimia category. The second activity will be testing
to see if the students understand how to react to someone they know having an eating disorder. I
will read off five different scenarios and the students will write what eating disorder they think
their hypothetical friend has if any, and how they would respond to that person. All of these
activities will help me to assess if the students have met my learning target. The learning target
for this subject is, After todays lesson, students will be able to recognize the difference between
the three eating disorders and will be able to explain why they are harmful and ways to help an
individual recovering from an eating disorder. This aligns with the standard FMCS.12Synthesize wellness practices that impact an individuals physical and emotional health, optimal
performance, quality of life and longevity.
Lesson Data
Before I started the lesson, I gave the students a pre-quiz. This quiz was made up of four
true/false questions, one multiple choice, and one short answer. Of the 22 students in my class 15
students passed the pre-quiz and 7 students failed. Within those groups, 12 female students
passed, one with 100% and the rest with 83%, and three males passed, all with 83%. There were
two female students that didnt pass, one got 50% and the other got 66%, and five of the males
did not pass, four with 66% and one with 50%.

Pre-Quiz Results
100%

83%

66%

50%

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Female Students

Male Students

The questions that most students got wrong were about which eating disorder is most
common, if males can develop eating disorders, if eating disorders are harmful to the body, and
the reasons why someone might develop an eating disorder. Three of my students believed that
men could not develop eating disorders, and five other students wrote that they didnt know.
Believing that males dont develop eating disorders can be harmful if they have a male in their
lives that is struggling with one. Doubting that someone has an eating disorder means you wont
get them help and they could end up with severe problems. There were three different students
that didnt believe an eating disorder is harmful to the body. Thats worrisome that some students
might have traits of an eating disorder and not think its harmful. Many of the students also had a
hard time coming up with reasons as to why someone might develop an eating disorder. For the
students that did come up with reasons the most common reason was stress. Eating disorders are
very complex and its important for students to understand some of the reasons people develop
eating disorders. Theres more than just stress. I want to start helping my students to think about
the power their words can have on someone and to realize that a lot of times people that develop
eating disorders are bullied or picked on. The last question that students really struggled with
was which eating disorder is most common. There was only one student that actually selected
that bulimia is the most common eating disorder. This information is very important for students
to know because bulimia is one of the hardest eating disorder to recognize if someone has. With
anorexia you will see the person start losing weight, with binge-eating disorder you will notice a
person eating abnormal amounts and gaining weight, but with bulimia there are hardly any
outward indications that someone is struggling. To recognize if someone has bulimia you
typically have to pay very close attention and pick up on subtle habits. This pre-quiz told me that
most of the students knew a couple things about eating disorders, but many of the students were
missing very important information.
After my presentation, the students completed the first worksheet. Once they were done
with the worksheet we discussed their answers as a class. Everyone in the class scored a 98% or
above. The tricky thing about this activity was that some of the characteristics could go under

two or all of the eating disorders, so more important to me than the grades they received was
their reasoning. We talked about why some of the characteristics could go under multiple eating
disorders. We also discussed why some of the characteristics may not go under the eating
disorders they thought. For example, secretive binging goes under bulimia and not binge-eating
disorder, because people with binge-eating disorder are not secretive about their bingeing. After
this activity I felt reassured that the students in my class would be able to recognize if someone
had developed an eating disorder. That is the first step in helping someone recover from an eating
disorder.
The second activity we did in my class, is I read scenarios of a hypothetical friends
actions and the students would have to write a short response as to whether they thought that
person was displaying signs of an eating disorder, what eating disorder they thought it was, and
what they would do if that person was their friend. This assignment did not have a grade
attached. Instead, I was looking to see if my students had learned how the mind of someone with
an eating disorder works and what they could do to help. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all
my students showed a great deal of care and concern when coming up with what they would do.
All of my students showed consideration in what they would say to their friend and they all
talked about getting help for their friend and trying to improve their self-image. I was very
pleased with the responses of my students and it was clear to me that they internalized the
information that they learned.
At the end of the class I had the students retake the same quiz that they took at the
beginning of the class. All of my students passed the quiz the second time around. Everyone
earned 100% except for one female student and one male student that received 83%. I was glad
to see that all the students understood that eating disorders are harmful to the body, and that men
and women can suffer from eating disorders. The students also gave very thoughtful responses as
to why individuals might develop eating disorders. The one question that two students still got
wrong was which eating disorder is most common. This made me think that I should have made
that more clear and repeated it even more times. By the end of the lesson, however, I saw a large
growth in knowledge from my students.

Post-Quiz Results
100%

83%

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Female students

Male students

Teaching Strategies
After teaching the lesson and looking back on my learning target, I can say that my
students were able to recognize the difference between the three eating disorders, they could talk
about the harmfulness of each eating disorder, and they were able to talk about ways to help
someone with an eating disorder. The many activities we did and the lecture I gave helped to
improve student understanding. I always try to have the students do multiple activities so I can
keep their attention and so they are able to internalize the information. By making the
information more relevant to their lives, they have any easier time remembering it. Although I
consider this lesson a success, there are things I want to improve on.
One of the things I want to improve on is my level of questioning. Looking back at the
pre and post-quiz, I can tell that students did understand the information better, but I also noticed
that most of my questions are lower-level questions. I would like to develop more open-ended
questions and more concept-based questions. I want to make students really think about what
they are learning so that they will be able to develop their own intelligent thoughts about each
subject we discuss. I want them to be able to use the information they are learning in my class in
their real lives. In order to do this they need to really think about the information we are
discussing. I also wish I would have made my pre and post-quiz longer. If I had made my quizzes
longer and more in-depth I would have been able to gauge my students understanding at a
deeper level, instead of just the surface of their knowledge. In order to get better at developing
questions I will look at Blooms Taxonomy when developing questions. I will think about what it
is I really want my students to know and I will develop higher-level questions. I will also
develop higher-level questions to ask during my lessons. When I have questions prepared and in
front of me, it is easier for me to ask more concept-based questions. By having higher-level
questions I will help my students in retaining the information they are learning. By the level of
responses my students give I will be able to tell if the questions Im asking are really helping
them to think about the subject matter.
Another area I want to focus on improving is developing accommodations and
modifications. When I taught this lesson I had only known meet my students two previous days.
It was hard to know what accommodations they might need. After doing this lesson I learned that
many of my students are more visual and respond better to group work than to lectures. I also
learned that some students needed more scaffolding with the information I was teaching, while
some students had a lot more previous knowledge. For future lessons I will try to have more
student interaction and have the students teach the information to each other, instead of having
me lecture. For the students that need more help with the information, I might have them teach
the easier concepts and I would have the students that know more of the information teach the
harder concepts. Depending on the activity, I might also create groups that have an individual
that needs more help and an individual that understands the information so that they can help
each other. I will be able to measure if my accommodations are working by the level of
engagement of my students and the quality of their products. If the level of information is
appropriate for the student, then it is more likely they will stay engaged and be willing to learn
the information. One of the reasons students disengage during a lesson is because they are either
not understanding the information or they already know the information and they are bored. By
adjusting the information for each student hopefully I will have a better chance of keeping my
students engaged.
A third area I want to work on is communicating to my students why the information they
are learning is important. I wish I would have told my students the purpose of each activity they

were doing. They knew what the learning target for the lesson was, but I should have made it
clear how each activity we were doing connected to the learning target. I have noticed that when
students know the reason behind why they are being asked to complete a task, they are more
likely to do it. I think that if I had explained to my students that I wanted them to complete the
characteristics of eating disorders worksheet because I wanted them to be able to recognize a
person with an eating disorder in the future that they may have internalized the information
more. My students completed all the tasks I had created with high levels of achievement, but I
dont know if they know why I had them do each activity. I will be able to check if I am
communicating the importance of each lesson by my students being able to recall the information
at a later time, like a unit test, or by them being able to apply the information to a real life
situation.
I have the data to show that my students improved on their knowledge of eating
disorders, but looking back there are somethings I could improve on. I want to develop questions
that require my students to use a higher-level of thinking. I want them to internalize the
information I am teaching and be able to apply it to their own lives. I also want to help each
student understand the information. I want the information to be appropriate for the different
levels of learning my students are at. With each lesson I learn more and more ways to improve
my teaching and help my students.