This paper is from Session 3C: Modern data and visualizations in the introductory statistics course
which comes under Topic 3: Statistics education at the post-secondary level
Paper 3C3 (Monday 9th, 11:00-12:30)
Students’ Understanding of Data Visualizations
Presenter
- Charlotte Bolch (University of Florida, United States)
Co-author
- Tim Jacobbe (University of Florida, United States)
Abstract
Students are currently exposed to graphical displays and data visualizations presented to them in their courses and the media. Educators can incorporate data visualization skills into statistics courses where just basic graphical displays are usually the focus of descriptive statistics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of students’ experiences in learning how to read, interpret, and create data visualizations with the use of dynamic statistical software on their graph comprehension skills. A specific data visualization module addressing these skills supplemented the curriculum in an introductory statistics course. Data visualization assignments, student journals, the Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics© and the Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics assessments were used to examine students’ understanding and perceptions about data visualizations and graph comprehension skills.