Common Mistakes in the Construction of Diagrams in Biological Contexts

Abstract

Understanding diagrams plays an important role in everyday life, for example, if we want to understand the results of an election or properly interpret the graphic representation of news from the stock exchange. Electronic media in particular (AV media and computer-supported systems such as televisions, smartphones and tablet PCs) are increasingly using more graphic representations and visual symbol systems to simplify user guidance and present complex information in their online and offline ranges. One presumed advantage of these visual schematic illustrations is that links and relationships among data can be perceived more rapidly and vividly than if they were sequentially described in literary language (Kuckartz et al. 2010). This is one reason why graphics and other visualisations are often used in science in particular (Roth et al. 1999). In addition, it has been shown that the independent and active construction of diagrams by learners creates an environment that promotes learning (Cox 1999; Stern et al. 2003). In order to prepare students for a future that will necessitate skills for using graphic representations, the German ministries of education have adjusted their requirements for students. Accordingly, in the German curricula and (national) educational standards, mathematics is no longer the only subject in which students are taught how to interact with diagrams (KMK 2005)—they play a growing role in science. In subjects such as physics, chemistry and biology, the ability to independently construct and evaluate graphic representations of data is defined as an educational objective (Lachmayer 2008). In some German curricula, this ability Res Sci Educ (2015) 45:193–213 DOI 10.1007/s11165-014-9419-9