Grappling with Graphs: Researching and Improving Student Graphing Skills Using An Interactive Digital Graphing Tool

要求对STEM领域的各级本科教学进行改革，鼓励学生积极参与科学过程，包括探究和定量数据分析、图表的解释和构建以及决策。但是，目前缺乏研究支持的工具和课程来教授科学过程中涉及的总体技能，包括产生可测试的假设、实验设计、探索和解释数据以及提出基于证据的论点。这在许多学生在大学里第一次接触科学领域的大型入门课程中尤其如此。这个项目将建立在一个新兴的研究基础上，探索学生在使用图表时遇到的困难，以及他们如何学习构建图表。它将在深度和广度上扩展这一研究基础，使用GraphSmarts研究工具，这是有意设计的，以揭示学生的能力和困难的图形构建。在这个项目中收集的数据将把这个研究工具转化为一个宝贵的教学工具，它可以为学生和教师提供关于学生在绘图方面困难的领域的快速反馈，以微调教学和学生对这一关键技能的学习。这个项目的智力价值在于利用产学研合作伙伴关系的资源，建立一个丰富的学生制图实践数据库，并利用这些数据为生物学入门学生提供坚实的制图知识和技能基础。在最近完成的一个网络学习项目中，simbiosoftware公司探索了在开放式环境中给学生真实的科学问题（使用模拟）的方法，但仍然向学生和教师提供即时和具体的反馈，这可以帮助引导学生更好地理解如何设计一个有意义的实验。目前的项目将为科学过程的另一个关键部分——数据显示和解释——构建工具，通过构建图表来证明这一点。第一个目标是扩展和验证现有的GraphSmarts工具的能力，以收集生物学本科生中所有常见的图形构建能力。来自学生和教师的有声思考图表访谈的定性数据对于指导GraphSmarts工具的改进至关重要，以便在没有访谈的情况下进行数据收集。第二个目标是使用GraphSmarts工具在生态学/进化中构建一个额外的图形场景，并在不同的入门生物学设置中实现该场景，以巩固学生能力和图形构建困难的数据集。该项目的数据对于指导GraphSmarts教学模块的开发至关重要，该模块可以向学生和教师提供有关绘图困难的实时反馈，并提供评估以评估学生绘图熟练程度的发展。

Calls for reforms at all levels of undergraduate teaching in STEM fields encourage students to be active participants in the process of science with inquiry and quantitative data analysis, interpretation and construction of graphs, and decision-making. But there is currently a dearth of research-backed tools and curriculum for teaching overarching skills involved in the scientific process, including generating testable hypotheses, experimental design, exploring and interpreting data, and making evidence-based arguments. This is especially true in the large introductory classes that constitute many students' first exposure to a scientific field in college. This project will build on a budding research base exploring where students have trouble with using graphs with and how they learn to construct graphs. It will expand this research base both in depth and breadth, using the GraphSmarts Research Tool, which was purposefully designed to reveal students' competence and difficulties with graph construction. Data collected in this project will transform this research tool into an invaluable teaching tool which can provide both students and instructors rapid feedback on areas of student difficulty with graphing in order to fine-tune instruction and student learning of this critical skill.The intellectual merit of this project is to leverage the resources of an industry-academia partnership to establish a rich database of student graphing practices and to use those data to equip introductory biology students with a strong foundation of graphing knowledge and skills. On a recently completed cyberlearning project, the SimBiotic Software company explored ways of giving students authentic scientific problems (using simulations) in open-ended environments, but still providing immediate and specific feedback to both students and instructors that can help guide students towards a better understanding of how to design a meaningful experiment. The current project will build tools for another key piece of the scientific process - data display and interpretation, as evidenced through constructing graphs. The first objective is to expand and validate the existing GraphSmarts tool's ability to collect the full range of common graph construction competencies among undergraduate biology students. Qualitative data from student and instructor think-aloud graphing interviews will be critical in guiding the refinement of the GraphSmarts tool to enable future data collection in the absence of interviews. The second objective is to build an additional graphing scenario in ecology/evolution using the GraphSmarts tool and implement this scenario in diverse introductory biology settings to solidify the dataset of student competencies and difficulties with graph construction. Data from this project will be critical in guiding the development of GraphSmarts teaching modules to provide real-time feedback regarding graphing difficulties to both students and instructors and offer assessments to evaluate the development of student proficiency with graphing.