FI & FO: Information-In and Information-Out.

Information is what we know about something. We know how many students there are in the class; we know their names; we know who is president of the United States; we know how many days there are in a year; we could know something about John F. Kennedy; we could know the names of the players on the football team. Sometimes we have all the information we want but at other times some of it seems to be missing. You ask someone to go and buy a copy of the book War and Peace. Some time later the person comes back and asks, "Which type of book did you want, the hardcover or the soft cover?" This information had been left out of the original instructions.

This lesson is concerned with extracting all the possible information from what we know or are told (directly, from a book, from TV, etc.) about a situation. It is also concerned with noting - in a deliberate manner - all the information that has been left out.

It is obvious that we cannot really know what has been left out because we may not know what should be there (in the example of the War and Peace book you could not say that the information about the sort of book had been left out unless you already knew there to be a hardcover and softcover version). So by "information that is left out" we mean: information that seems to be missing; information that we should very much like to have; information gaps.

What is missing here?
What has been left out?
What would we like to know?

The drawing on the notes shows someone reading a book from which big chunks have been eaten out by the mouse. There is still some information in that book but obviously quite a lot of information is missing. We would like to know what the missing parts showed. If we regard any information we are given as this mouse-eaten book then we can look to see what we do have and what seems to be missing.

Information-in means the information that is given or the information that is included. We abbreviate this to FI (inFormation-In).

Information-out means the information that has been or seems to have been left out. We abbreviate this to FO (inFormation-Out).

Doing an Fl & FO means listing the information that is given and listing the information that we would like to have. Listing in this sense can mean a physical list or a mental list.

EXAMPLE
(See Example section of student’s notes (A))

(*What we know about something is called information. Sometimes we get the information for ourselves and sometimes it is given to us. The information we get or are given tells us things we want to know but also leaves out things we would like to know.

Information-in (FI):

The information that is included; the information that has been put in; the information that has been given; what we know.

Information-out (FO):

The information that has been left out; the information that is missing; the information that we would like to know.

Doing an FI & FO means looking to see exactly what information has been put in and what has been left out.

Example:

"I shall catch the 9 a.m. flight to Chicago on Monday. Please meet me at the airport."

Information-in (FI): The information that is actually given includes:

  1. The person will be travelling to Chicago on Monday.
  2. The person will be outside of Chicago for at least some time on Monday.
  3. There is a flight that the person can take to Chicago (the person can get to an airport).
  4. There is a 9 a.m. flight.
  5. The person expects the flight to be operating.
  6. The person has decided to travel by plane.

Information-out (FO): The information that has been left out.

  1. Who the person is.
  2. The date of the Monday.
  3. Where the person will be travelling from.
  4. The airline that will be used.
  5. The actual time of arrival.
  6. To whom the message is addressed.)
The teacher can use the plane example given in the student’s notes. The message "I'll catch the 9 am flight to Chicago on Monday. Please meet me at the airport" can arrive as an unsigned telegram or a telephone message taken by someone else. If we list the information that is contained in this message (FI) we could obtain something like the six points listed in the student’s notes. Of course there may be many other points but it is not worth pursuing every single point in order to make the point clear.

If we wanted to meet the person as requested in the message then we do need more information. Some important things have been left-out of the message. We can do an FO and list all the things that have been left out - the things we should like to know. A list of six such things is given in the student’s notes.

It is also suggested in the student’s notes that the addition of one or two points of information could greatly reduce the FO list.

PRACTICE
(See Practice section of student’s notes (B))

PRACTICE ITEM 1.

(* A driver is trying to find a town called Hartford. He does not know the way and when he gets to a ‘Y’ junction he finds that the sign indicating the road to Hartford is lying beside the road. Do an FI & FO on this and see if there is anything the driver can do.)

The students work as groups. Allow 1-2 minutes. This is an easy problem if you happen to use the correct approach.

Suggested points:

FI one of the two roads does lead to Hartford.
the village or town from which the driver has just come should be indicated on the sign.
one of the arms of the signpost does show Hartford.
there is a fixed relationship between the road to Hartford and the road along which the driver has been driving.

FO which is the road to Hartford?
which way should the signpost be pointing?From this, one can see that the solution is simple. The driver holds up the signpost so that the correct arm points back down the road he is on to the town he just came from. He now sees which arm points to Hartford and he takes that road.

PRACTICE ITEM 2.

(* A hunter sets out from his home to shoot a bear. He walks three miles due South and then turns West and walks another mile before he sees a bear. He shoots the bear and misses. By now he is a bit frustrated so he turns and walks due North again until he reaches home. What colour was the bear he missed?)

This can be a very quick item so the students can work as individuals or as groups. It does not seem that enough information has been given and yet it has. In a sense it is a trick question but it serves to make the point that more information may be given than appears at first sight. The answer is that the bear must have been white because it must have been a polar bear because the only place the hunter could have started out from was the North Pole - otherwise he could not have reached home just by walking North again (anywhere else he would have missed by a mile). The teacher will probably need to illustrate the hunter's path with a diagram on the blackboard. The teacher should not get diverted into a discussion of the North Pole.

PRACTICE ITEM 3.

(*& In a travel agent’s advertisement you read the following: "An exclusive holiday in the Bahamas. The hotel is near the sea. You can sail and water-ski. Two weeks including travel." What information has been left out? What else would you like to know?)

Students work in groups for 4 minutes. The groups are asked to list the FO points - that is the information that appears to have been left out and which the traveller would really like to have.

Suggestions

1. The actual price of the holiday
2. What does the word "inclusive" really include? Does it include tips, transportation to the airport etc ? What does it not include?
3. Just how near is the hotel to the sea? A few yards, half a mile, a mile?
4. Is the sailing and water-skiing included or charged for separately? Are there enough boats or is there just one sailing boat and skiing boat for everyone? Do you have to be an expert or is instruction available?
5. How many days out of two weeks are actually spent at the resort? On what day of the week and at what time is the departure (and return)?

This list can, of course, be added to. The teacher should, however, draw the line at extending it indefinitely, especially with facetious remarks like what colour are the bedspreads, what would we eat for breakfast, etc

PRACTICE ITEM 4.

(* You see an advertisement for a job. "Wanted men or women to train as assistant store managers. Age 16-40. Three weeks vacation a year. Free lunches and free uniform. Competitive rates of pay with bonus." Do an FI & FO on this.)

Students work in groups for 4 minutes This time the groups are asked to list both the FI and the FO points in getting a report from the groups afterwards the teacher can ask each group to give only those points which have not already been given (to avoid tedious repetition).

Suggested points:

FI
1 Job open to men or women
2 Age range 16 to 40 years
3 Three weeks' vacation
4 Free lunches and uniform
5 Competitive rates of pay with bonus
6 (guessed) Chances of promotion seem slight if age range is so wide and for the same reason responsibility cannot be very great

FO
1 Does the pay vary with age?
2 What are the promotion prospects?
3 What is the competitive rate of pay and what is the bonus?
4 Is experience required or is training available?
5 Does the three weeks' vacation have to be taken all at once and at a certain time of the year?
6 How many days a week?
7 What are the hours of work?
8 What type of store is it?
9 Does the person have to wear the uniform?

As before teachers have to beware of the addition of an unending stream of FO items They should accept as many as they can and then make an arbitrary cut off in order to move on Alternatively, they can ask for the 5 to 10 most important items (i.e. doing an FIP from CoRT 1)

OPERATION
(See Operation section of student’s notes (A))

(*
1. Put down all the information that has been given (the information-in). Do an FI.

2. Put down all the information that has been left out and that you would like to have (the information-out). Do an FO.

3. Examine the information-in to see if you can find anything that will reduce the information-out.

4. Do an FI & FO every time you are given information or when you have to collect it for yourself.)

This is explained as a practical procedure that may be followed when someone is asked to do an FI & FO on the subject The four points on the student’s notes should be read through These are not discussion points and time should not be given to discussion as this can confuse the issue Attention should be drawn to item 3, which suggests that the FI list should be examined carefully to see if anything there might shorten the FO list.

PROJECT
(See Project section of student’s notes (B))

(*
1. You want to set up a children’s playground in the town. What information should you collect? What information is likely to be left out?

2. Do an FI & FO on the information which you now have about the careers open to you when you leave school.)

These two items can be given to the students for them to work on as individuals. The output should be in essay or note form. The work can be done in the latter part of a CoRT lesson if this has been assigned a double period, otherwise it can be assigned as homework. One or other of the items is chosen whether by the teacher or b) students. The items could be used for open class discussion.

1. The task here is to do an FI & FO on the setting up of a children's playground. To simplify the matter the two questions could be:

Suggested points:

FI

  1. number of existing playgrounds
  2. whether these are adequate
  3. good or bad points about existing playgrounds
  4. number of children in the area
  5. how far children have to travel to go to a playground
  6. possible sites
  7. access and travel facilities to site
  8. cost of sites
  9. planning and other permissions
  10. attitude of parents to proposed playground
FO
  1. what the children themselves want, especially those who might themselves use the playground
  2. which children will use the playground
  3. what will happen to the playground after it has been set up - will it attract destructive children, etc.?
  4. the effect of population shifts in the town
  5. how parents will react to the playground, will they take their children there or not?
  6. the amount of support and co-operation from the local authorities in the short-term and in the long-term?
2. This is another FI & FO task but the emphasis should be on what the students know at this moment and not what they think they will know eventually.

Suggested points:

Possibilities and opportunities, less obvious careers, changes in careers, overcrowded careers, pay and promotion prospects, travel, areas of work, environment of work (office, factory, field studies), training and qualification required, knowing where to find information or whom to ask, etc.