A Survey on the Graphical Representation Abilities of Lower and Upper Secondary School Students. (1) - On the proportional graph -

Abstract

In order to know the real situation of the secondary school students concerning the ability to make a graph from the data obtained in the science classroom and to interpret it the author assigned some basic questions to lower and upper secondary school siudents to answere them by drawing a graph and interpreting it. The following usefull results for teaching the graphical representation were obtained. 1.There were few students who could write down a scale on the coordinate axes taking the extrapolation of the graph into consideration. 2.There were few students who recognized the origin of the coordinates axes as one of measured figures in the data showing the relation between the length of a spring and weight hanged on it. 3.There were many students who could not plot all data given in the question on the coordinate, wrote a broken graph and stopped the graph at a maximum measured point. 4.There were many lower secondary school students who were confused the shape of a graph with the relationship of two variables. although the relationship of two variables can be concluded from the shape of a graph. 5.The number of students who were able to draw a graph completely was about one-third for lower secondary students and one-half for upper secondary students. 6.It seemed very difficult for students to understand the technics of interpolation and extrapolation using a graph. The number of students who understood the extropalation technic was about half of the number of the students who understood the interpolation technic. 7.The number of students who were able to obtain the value of decline of the straight line on the graph was under three-fouth of the total upper secondary students and one-fouth of the total lower secondary students. 8.The number of students who were able to convert a straight line on the graph to an experimental equation was two-third of the total upper secondary students and one-half of the total lower secondary students.