Teachers' Understanding of Graphic Representations of Quantitative Information

Abstract

abstract Graphic communication is becoming an increasingly important form by which teachers and their students communicate in teaching and learning experiences. Through different forms of graphics, i.e. graphic symbol systems, teachers can promote learning in their classrooms or in other learning environments. The challenge for teachers is to realise that they and their learners do vary considerably in their understanding of graphic representations of data in subjects across the school curriculum. The study reported here focuses on the variations in secondary teachers' understanding of graphic representations of quantitative information. Twenty‐six Australian teachers, who were working in schools that were located in urban environments and who taught in a broad range of subject areas, participated in a study to reveal their conceptions of graphic representations of quantitative data. A qualitative analysis of the teachers experience with a set of seven graphics about an imaginary world revealed seven different conceptions of their experience of the graphics. These results of the teachers' experiences are discussed in relation to previous understandings of teaching and learning. They indicate the need for careful consideration that teachers approach graphics in qualitatively different ways which may influence the way that they teach graphics in their subject areas.