CAREER: Reframing Students' Graph Literacy with a Focus on Students' Thinking

图形素养，即理解、解释和使用图形表示的能力，对于学生学习数学、在STEM课程和职业生涯中取得成功以及参与社会知情参与至关重要。毫无疑问，理解和支持学生图形素养的发展是教育工作者、研究者和课程开发者共同承担的重要任务。研究已经证明了中学生在图形表示方面的困难，然而，数学教师、教师教育工作者和研究人员需要以学生的数学思维为重点的理论，以更好地支持学生在数学的各个领域(如代数、统计、几何)的图形素养的发展。这个项目从基于资产的角度考察中学生的图形素养，记录学生对图形的思考方式(即他们的认知策略和直觉洞察力)，以及教学如何建立在这种思维的基础上以支持图形素养的发展。根据学生对跨越不同数学领域的现实生活背景(例如，人口增长)的图形表示，该研究计划将开发一个整体理论框架，为多个内容领域的数学教学提供信息。该框架将模拟学生在阅读和书写图表时建立的认知策略和直觉洞察力，并绘制出学生的图表素养如何在中学阶段变化和发展。这项工作还将使用基于设计的方法，包括对中学生的基于任务的临床访谈，反复设计、测试和提炼一套供教师和研究人员使用的经验性测试的绘图任务，一个展示学生在从事绘图任务时的思维的视频库，以及为教师和教师提供的出版物和课程材料。该奖项的部分资金来自发现研究PRK-12项目(DRK-12)，该项目旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高预科-12年级学生和教师的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发努力的基础上，这些研究和开发工作为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验证明。该奖项的部分资金也来自EDU核心研究(ECR)计划。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。在基本、广泛和持久的关键领域进行投资：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该计划支持积累强有力的证据，为理解、构建理论以解释并建议干预和创新以应对教育中持续存在的挑战的努力提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Graph literacy, the ability to comprehend, interpret, and use graphical representations, is critical for students to learn mathematics, to succeed in STEM coursework and careers, and to engage in informed participation in society. Undoubtedly, understanding and supporting students’ development of graph literacy is an important task educators, researchers, and curricula developers collectively share. Studies have documented secondary school students’ difficulties with graphical representations, yet, there is a need for theories focused on students’ mathematical thinking that can be used by mathematics teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to better support the development of students’ graph literacy in various domains of mathematics (e.g., algebra, statistics, geometry). This project examines middle school students’ graph literacy from an asset-based perspective, documenting the ways in which students think about graphs (i.e., their cognitive strategies and intuitive insights), and the ways in which instruction can build upon that thinking in order to support the development of graph literacy. Drawing from students’ graphical representations of real-life contexts (e.g., population growth) that span various mathematical domains, this program of research will develop a holistic theoretical framework that can inform mathematics instruction in multiple content areas. The framework will model the cognitive strategies and intuitive insights students build upon when reading and writing graphs, and map how students’ graph literacy changes and develops across the middle grades. Using a design-based methodology consisting of task-based clinical interviews with middle school students, this work will also iteratively design, test, and refine a set of empirically-tested graphing tasks for use by both teachers and researchers, a library of videos illustrating student thinking as they engage in graphing tasks, and publications and curricular materials for teachers and teacher educators.The award is funded in part by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) which seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. The award is also funded in part by the EDU Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.