10.+Design

=Charts, Tables, Graphs, and Diagrams: An Approach for Social Studies Teachers =


I chose this article because there is a strong emphasis on using images in teaching. Although the focus is in social studies, I feel that the information will certainly be transferable to science.


DuPlass, J. (1996, January). Charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams: An approach for social studies teachers. //Social Studies//, //87//(1), 32. Retrieved October 26, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.


In this article, that author wants to encourage the effective use of charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams by social studies teachers. He begins with a brief review of other articles to prove his central point that "the performance of students who were presented with material with and without graphic displays provide convincing evidence that comprehension was improved for those who were taught with graphics" (DuPlass, 1996). From here, he moves into a discussion of how to teach students to interpret and create these various types of images.


The author seems to have a constructivist view of learning. Part of his goal is to have students learn how to interpret charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams in order to relate the information to their personal life. He includes several examples of lessons that could be used in order to increase student understanding of these graphical forms of data. The first involves students creating pie charts to show their "day" and then a pie chart to show the "day" of an average student in the class. Students are able to compare their data to that of the class and see how a graph can be used to represent data. A second example involves using graphs of census data, which is certainly not the most high-interest topic for high school students. In order to have the students connect to the data, he has them extrapolate what the population of the United States will be in 2000 (the article is from 1996) and what the death and birth rates will be. He then poses a follow up question "What might be some of the good and bad consequences of this prediction for American society?" (DuPlass, 1996) that is designed to get students thinking about their future and the society that they will live in.

A main focus of the article is to teach students how to read, interpret, and create charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams. He provided a detailed analysis of existing strategies for covering this information. The author uses two three-step processes developed by Manhood, Biemer, and Lowe (1991). The first covers understanding graphs and focuses on reading outside of the graph (title, date, and source), reading inside the graph (the actual data), and reading above and beyond the graph (relating to personal experience) in order to understand the information (DuPlass 1996; Manhood, Biemer, and Lowe 1991). The second three-step strategy has students focus on what information is being presented (information inside and outside of the chart), analyze the information being presented (interpret the information provided), and finally to develop a hypothesis from the information (why/how is the information important) in order to use charts as a teaching tool (DuPlass 1996; Manhood, Biemer, and Lowe 1991). In addition to these skills, the author runs through several sample lessons designed to train students in the proper creation, and interpretation, of charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams.


The audience that this author wishes to influence is social studies teachers of all grade levels.


There are several key ideas covered by this article. The first is the methodical breakdown of how to make these types of visuals effective parts of instruction. The two three-step strategies are very clear criteria to employ in order to have students learn and interpret charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams. The two main points from this section that are critical to increasing student involvement are making personal connections and developing hypotheses that explain the significance of the data. A second key idea is rarely stated, but is certainly an under-current throughout the article; that is, that the students must learn by doing. These graphics are all abstract representations of data that has been gathered. Students must be able to correctly read these representations in order to understand how the separate pieces of data relate to each other. In this author's view, the best way for that to happen is if the students are actively using, creating, and interpreting these graphs.


Although this article is a bit old (1996), and although it is focused on social studies, I believe there are several key ideas that I can take from it. In science, the creation of graphs is critical to completing lab work. Most labs involve collecting and comparing quantitative data, and charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams are the preferred method to do that. Unfortunately, many of our students do not know how to create nor interpret graphical representations of data. In this case, science and social studies are very similar as we both rely on <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams. This article gives me a structure to focus on when I work with the students on their graphing skills.

There are several failings that I see in this article. During his description of the attributes of graphics, that author makes an interesting point regarding the visuals that we use. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"> <span style="color: rgb(6, 0, 255)">"  <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"><span style="color: rgb(6, 0, 255)">Graphical images take on the eclectic nature of art. Unlike the author who creates information by the creative use of words and phrases and their juxtaposition in the linear form of text, the artist of a graphic image expresses ideas with line, shading, and juxtaposition. Graphic displays are art, implicit with the artist's imperatives of shape, form, and context. The rules for charts, tables, graphs, and diagrams lack the consistency and continuity provided by the universally accepted grammatical rules that guide us in language arts. Unlike the author who presents information in prose form by selecting words and phrases to amplify meaning within the known and rigid structure of a language, the graphic designer can organize both the structure and content of a graphic according to his or her eclectic, egocentric eye." (DuPlass 1996) This portion brings up the subjective nature of the visuals that are presented to students. You can influence the interpretation of the viewer by your number choice (on an x or y axis), by the pictures that you include, and by a variety of other methods. Although this is certainly a key aspect to discuss in regards to graphics that we use, the author does not explore the topic in detail.

A second topic that I feel that the author misses is the use, creation, and interpretation of pictures as a way to convey visual information. Especially in social studies and science, the use of pictures to show what we are talking about is crucial to the learning process, yet this author does not cover this topic at all.