INTERPRETATION OF GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS ALONG THE NOVICE – EXPERT CONTINUUM
The goal of this study is to investigate the differences in data analysis skills along a continuum of expertise – from novice students to practicing science professionals in the earth science content domain. More specifically, we designed this research to better understand how people read, interpret and create graphical representations of numerical data. While existing research provides a framework for the factors influencing how people interpret graphs and differences based on expertise, it does not provide details about the differential skill development as people gain experience in a field.
In this study we collected data in three different formats: eye movement measurements, think aloud recordings, and the written responses and graphs created by participants. The three streams of data collected from each participant provide a more detailed picture of how students and scientists read through graphical displays than previously collected. The focus of this presentation will be on the construction of graphs by research participants.
Our initial findings indicate that many participants consistently selected sub-optimal displays or incorrectly explained the elements and reasoning behind their displays. While there were fewer errors made by those at higher levels of expertise, there was a tendency for all participants to select a mode of graphical display and attempt to fit each of the data sets to that mode. In this presentation we will present more detail on these findings and how they reflect on the data literacy of tomorrow’s workforce.