Improving students graphing skills and conceptual understanding using explicit Graphical Physics Instructions

Abstract

The study presented investigates the effects of supportive graphical interventions on the graphing skills and conceptual understanding of students in physics. In this study, the first group of participants was presented with ready-made graphs during the instruction, the second group was instructed on the proper construction and extraction of graphs, while the third group was instructed to construct graphs independently. The groups were compared with respect to their scores in the graphing skills and achievement tests before and after the instructions. The group that received supportive intervention in construction and extraction of graphs attained the highest number of high-level graphs constructed and obtained the highest increase in the achievement test scores after the instruction. The results revealed that the use of the supportive graphical intervention in the construction and extraction of graphs improved the graphing skills and conceptual understanding of students, especially for those who experienced difficulties in dealing graphs.

Keywords: Graphical interventions, construction of graph, interpretation of graph, graphing skills, conceptual understanding;