Role Of Visual Representations Research Articles

The Role of Visual Representations in Undergraduate Students’ Learning about Genetic Inheritance

Prior work has shown that many undergraduate students have misconceptions about genetic inheritance, even after they take genetics courses. Visual representations, such as pedigree diagrams, are commonly used in genetics instruction, and they help students quickly visualize the phenotypes of multiple generations. In Study 1, we examined whether presenting a pedigree diagram of a wolf’s eye color in a rich and realistic manner (i.e., with rich perceptual images that resemble real animals) or in an abstract manner (i.e., with circles and squares representing animals) would help undergraduates learn from a brief, online lesson on inheritance of the wolf’s eye color, and whether they would transfer what they learned when reasoning about eye color in other species (near transfer) and other traits in other species (mid- and far transfer). Counter to our hypothesis, students transferred more with the rich diagram. In Study 2, we compared the rich diagram from Study 1 to a perceptually bland diagram (i.e., with color and textural features removed). There were no differences in students’ learning or transfer between the diagrams. These results suggest that realistic elements that are attention grabbing and easily interpretable by students can be beneficial for transfer in online lessons.

Concept Maps as a Resource to Enhance Teaching and Learning of Mathematics at Senior Secondary Level

Research has identified conceptual understanding as central to students’ mathematics comprehension. However, limited research is available to help teachers link mathematics concepts from junior to senior subjects during teaching and learning in Queensland. This mixed methods study is underpinned by constructivism. It explores teachers’ perceptions on how visual representations such as concept maps that link junior concepts (years 7 to 10) to senior concepts (year 11 and 12) can enhance the teaching and learning of conceptual knowledge at senior secondary mathematics. Surveys that include Likert scale items and open-ended questions were conducted with sixteen senior secondary mathematics teachers. To gain deeper understanding, eight semi-structured interviews were also conducted. Results show teachers hold the perception that when concept maps are used to link junior (years 7 to 10) to secondary concepts (year 11 and 12) they can be a resource that enhances conceptual knowledge, consolidation, and assessment of students’ mathematical knowledge. The role of visual representations in mathematics teaching and learning that is enhanced by concept maps is an area that needs more attention to help improve students’ participation and achievement.

The Role of Visual Representations in Geometry Learning

<p style="text-align: justify;">Visual representations and the process of visualisation have an important role in geometry learning. The optimal use of visual representations in complex multimedia environments has been an important research topic since the end of the last century. For the purpose of the study presented in this paper, we designed a model of learning geometry with the use of digital learning resources like dynamic geometry programmes and applets, which foster visualisation. Students explore geometric concepts through the manipulation of interactive virtual representations. This study aims to explore whether learning of geometry with digital resources is reflected in higher student achievements in solving geometric problems. This study also aims to explore the role of graphical representations (GRs) in solving geometric problems. The results of the survey show a positive impact of the model of teaching on student achievement. In the post-test, students in the experimental group (EG) performed significantly better than students in the control group (CG) in the overall number of points, in solving tasks without GR, in calculating the area and the perimeter of triangles and quadrilaterals than the CG students, in all cases with small size effect. The authors therefore argue for the use of digital technologies and resources in geometry learning, because interactive manipulatives support the transition between representations at the concrete, pictorial and symbolic (abstract) levels and are therefore important for understanding mathematical concepts, as well as for exploring relationships, making precise graphical representations (GRs), formulating and proving assumptions, and applying different problem-solving strategies.</p>

The Role of Visual Representation for High School Physics in Teaching of Classical Mechanics

This study aims to highlight the importance of visual representation skills in classroom practice, especially in classical mechanics physics, by discussing (1) free-body diagram representation, (2) resultant force system, (3) types and directions of quantities, (4) representation of results and units. This research was conducted on 30 students in second grade at Beringin Kupang High School. The research method was carried out experimentally using a special image representation test tool for classical mechanical materials. The research data were analyzed by descriptive method. The results showed that (1) more than 50% of students did not draw FBD before solving the problem, (2) the success rate of students in representing the resultant force system was the highest at 33%, (3) determining the type and direction of motion the success rate was 67%, and (4) representation results and units with a success rate of 40%. The results of this study become a reference for increasing the role of visual representation in learning physics.

Eine unglaubliche Metamorphose: Narrative Unzuverlässigkeit in Paul Zwei von Franz Suess

Paul Zwei by Franz Suess is a comic about an extraordinary metamorphosis. Paul, the protagonist of the story, experiences an involuntary and surprising sexual change. At first, Paul feels an itch in his crotch; then his penis disappears. The question of whether this event takes place in the diegetic world or whether Paul imagines it is the subject of this article. It can be anticipated that this complex narrative fits into the strong recent period of German-language comics featuring innovative narrative strategies and thematically topical references related to gender, sexuality, and discrimination. This paper focuses on the narratological examination of the phenomenon of unreliable storytelling in the multimodal medium of comics. This includes the question of the extent to which Paul is or is not an unreliable narrator, the role of visual representation, and the functions that unreliability and ambiguity have on the discourse around gender.

The Role of Visual Representation in Enhancing The Quality of Progress Reports

The financial reporting function represents one of the workshops of the development of accounting and accounting functions as it represents an extension of the efforts of academics and professionals over time and at the same time is a response to the renewed needs of users of accounting information, and that progress reporting represents an integrated entry point of financial reporting, it is in line with the objectives of the conceptual framework for financial accounting, which is to provide appropriate and honest ly-represented information, and that enhancing the quality of these reports through visual representation of information is an objective to be implemented by information providers and accountants, so the objectives of this research are the most important objectives of this research. Is to determine the most important means of visual representation of the data and its impact on the quality of the progress reporting and the research concluded that the means of visual representation affect the quality of the progress reports so the researchers recommend the adoption of these methods by the management of the company sample research.

Uso concurrente de elementos gráficos para potenciar la identificación tipológica de un producto a través del envase: estudio de caso en los refrescos de cola

En el proceso de reconocimiento y selección de productos en los lineales del punto de venta es esencial identificar eficazmente las diferentes tipologías de producto para evitar confusiones molestas o, incluso, graves (personas diabéticas, por ejemplo). En este contexto, la función de la representación visual es fundamental.La presente investigación de carácter cuasiexperimental profundiza sobre esta cuestión y aborda la concurrencia de un texto y de un marcador cromático en el diseño del envase. Dicha circunstancia incrementaría la capacidad de identificación tipológica de los productos cuando se ubican en el punto de venta.

The role of visual representations in college students' understanding of mathematical notation.

Developing understanding of fractions involves connections between nonsymbolic visual representations and symbolic representations. Initially, teachers introduce fraction concepts with visual representations before moving to symbolic representations. Once the focus is shifted to symbolic representations, the connections between visual representations and symbolic notation are considered to be less useful, and students are rarely asked to connect symbolic notation back to visual representations. In 2 experiments, we ask whether visual representations affect understanding of symbolic notation for adults who understand symbolic notation. In a conceptual fraction comparison task (e.g., Which is larger, 5 / a or 8 / a?), participants were given comparisons paired with accurate, helpful visual representations, misleading visual representations, or no visual representations. The results show that even college students perform significantly better when accurate visuals are provided over misleading or no visuals. Further, eye-tracking data suggest that these visual representations may affect performance even when only briefly looked at. Implications for theories of fraction understanding and education are discussed.

The role of visual representations in scientific practices: from conceptual understanding and knowledge generation to ‘seeing’ how science works

The use of visual representations (i.e., photographs, diagrams, models) has been part of science, and their use makes it possible for scientists to interact with and represent complex phenomena, not observable in other ways. Despite a wealth of research in science education on visual representations, the emphasis of such research has mainly been on the conceptual understanding when using visual representations and less on visual representations as epistemic objects. In this paper, we argue that by positioning visual representations as epistemic objects of scientific practices, science education can bring a renewed focus on how visualization contributes to knowledge formation in science from the learners’ perspective. This is a theoretical paper, and in order to argue about the role of visualization, we first present a case study, that of the discovery of the structure of DNA that highlights the epistemic components of visual information in science. The second case study focuses on Faraday’s use of the lines of magnetic force. Faraday is known of his exploratory, creative, and yet systemic way of experimenting, and the visual reasoning leading to theoretical development was an inherent part of the experimentation. Third, we trace a contemporary account from science focusing on the experimental practices and how reproducibility of experimental procedures can be reinforced through video data. Our conclusions suggest that in teaching science, the emphasis in visualization should shift from cognitive understanding—using the products of science to understand the content—to engaging in the processes of visualization. Furthermore, we suggest that is it essential to design curriculum materials and learning environments that create a social and epistemic context and invite students to engage in the practice of visualization as evidence, reasoning, experimental procedure, or a means of communication and reflect on these practices. Implications for teacher education include the need for teacher professional development programs to problematize the use of visual representations as epistemic objects that are part of scientific practices.

The role of visual representations during the lexical access of spoken words

Do visual representations contribute to spoken word recognition? We examine, using MEG, the effects of sublexical and lexical variables at superior temporal (ST) areas and the posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) compared with that of word imageability at visual cortices. Embodied accounts predict early modulation of visual areas by imageability – concurrently with or prior to modulation of pMTG by lexical variables. Participants responded to speech stimuli varying continuously in imageability during lexical decision with simultaneous MEG recording. We employed the linguistic variables in a new type of correlational time course analysis to assess trial-by-trial activation in occipital, ST, and pMTG regions of interest (ROIs). The linguistic variables modulated the ROIs during different time windows. Critically, visual regions reflected an imageability effect prior to effects of lexicality on pMTG. This surprising effect supports a view on which sensory aspects of a lexical item are not a consequence of lexical activation.

Object Shape and Orientation Do Not Routinely Influence Performance During Language Processing

The role of visual representations during language processing remains unclear: They could be activated as a necessary part of the comprehension process, or they could be less crucial and influence performance in a task-dependent manner. In the present experiments, participants read sentences about an object. The sentences implied that the object had a specific shape or orientation. They then either named a picture of that object (Experiments 1 and 3) or decided whether the object had been mentioned in the sentence (Experiment 2). Orientation information did not reliably influence performance in any of the experiments. Shape representations influenced performance most strongly when participants were asked to compare a sentence with a picture or when they were explicitly asked to use mental imagery while reading the sentences. Thus, in contrast to previous claims, implied visual information often does not contribute substantially to the comprehension process during normal reading.

The Role of Visual Representations within Working Memory for Paired-Associate and Serial Order of Spoken Words

Caplan and colleagues have recently explained paired-associate learning and serial-order learning with a single-mechanism computational model by assuming differential degrees of isolation. Specifically, two items in a pair can be grouped together and associated to positional codes that are somewhat isolated from the rest of the items. In contrast, the degree of isolation among the studied items is lower in serial-order learning. One of the key predictions drawn from this theory is that any variables that help chunking of two adjacent items into a group should be beneficial to paired-associate learning, more than serial-order learning. To test this idea, the role of visual representations in memory for spoken verbal materials (i.e., imagery) was compared between two types of learning directly. Experiment 1 showed stronger effects of word concreteness and of concurrent presentation of irrelevant visual stimuli (dynamic visual noise: DVN) in paired-associate memory than in serial-order memory, consistent with the prediction. Experiment 2 revealed that the irrelevant visual stimuli effect was boosted when the participants had to actively maintain the information within working memory, rather than feed it to long-term memory for subsequent recall, due to cue overloading. This indicates that the sensory input from irrelevant visual stimuli can reach and affect visual representations of verbal items within working memory, and that this disruption can be attenuated when the information within working memory can be efficiently supported by long-term memory for subsequent recall.

Understanding project interdependencies: The role of visual representation, culture and process

Project portfolio management is central to many organizations' strategic processes and requires consideration of multiple factors and the ability to envision alternative future consequences to support strategic project portfolio decision making. Complex project portfolios with multiple project interdependencies are characteristic of many project environments, yet existing methods do not provide the clear understanding of project interdependencies that is required.This exploratory study aims to improve organizational understanding of project interdependencies through two loosely coupled avenues of investigation conducted in tandem in a telecommunications and a defense organization. The first avenue of research introduces a new type of visual representation and shows that the creation of graphical network displays of projects and their interdependencies can provide benefits by supporting communication and strategic portfolio decision making. The second avenue of research tests a conceptual model and highlights the importance of both the culture and processes in an organization's understanding of project interdependencies.

The effects of using drawings in developing young children’s mathematical word problem solving: A design experiment with third-grade Hungarian students

The present study aims to investigate the effects of a design experiment developed for third-grade students in the field of mathematics word problems. The main focus of the program was developing students’ knowledge about word problem solving strategies with an emphasis on the role of visual representations in mathematical modeling. The experiment involved five experimental and six control classes (N = 106 and 138, respectively) of third-grade students. The experiment comprised 20 lessons with 73 word problems, providing a systematic overview of the basic word problem types. Teachers of the experimental classes received a booklet containing lesson plans and overhead transparencies with different types of visual representations attached to the word problems. Students themselves were invited to make drawings for each task, and group work and teacher-led discussion shaped their beliefs about the role of visual representations in word problem solving. The effect sizes of the experiment were calculated from the results of two tests: an arithmetic skill and a word problem test, and the unbiased estimates for Cohen’s d proved to be 0.20 and 0.62. There were significant changes also in experimental group students’ beliefs about mathematics. The experiment pointed to the possibility, feasibility, and importance of learning about visual representations in mathematical word problem solving as early as in grade 3 (around age 9–10).

Revisiting curriculum inquiry: the role of visual representations

How do visual representations (VRs) in curriculum materials influence theoretical curriculum frameworks? Suggesting that VRs’ integration into curriculum materials affords a different lens for perceiving and understanding the curriculum domain, this study draws on a curricular perspective in relation to multi‐representations in texts rather than the predominant cognitive, art, communication, or media perspectives. It examines VRs’ impact on the meaning of the text and on central curriculum theories and concepts, highlighting VRs’ important, but overlooked, role in curriculum deliberations. For examining VRs as linked to the text and to curriculum frameworks, the part–whole relationship approach was used on three levels. It is suggested that VRs’ versatility speaks simultaneously to all of the curriculum commonplaces, thus possibly serving as a unifying factor during processes of curriculum deliberation.

Knowledge Practices in Design: The Role of Visual Representations as `Epistemic Objects'

We use a detailed study of the knowledge work around visual representations to draw attention to the multidimensional nature of `objects'. Objects are variously described in the literatures as relatively stable or in flux; as abstract or concrete; and as used within or across practices. We clarify these dimensions, drawing on and extending the literature on boundary objects, and connecting it with work on epistemic and technical objects. In particular, we highlight the epistemic role of objects, using our observations of knowledge work on an architectural design project to show how, in this setting, visual representations are characterized by a `lack' or incompleteness that precipitates unfolding. The conceptual design of a building involves a wide range of technical, social and aesthetic forms of knowledge that need to be developed and aligned. We explore how visual representations are used, and how these are meaningful to different stakeholders, eliciting their distinct contributions. As the project evolves and the drawings change, new issues and needs for knowledge work arise. These objects have an `unfolding ontology' and are constantly in flux, rather than fully formed. We discuss the implications for wider understandings of objects in organizations and for how knowledge work is achieved in practice.

“Stuff That Happened to Me”: Visual Memory in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005)

The article examines the use of graphic images for mnemonic purposes in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005). It argues that through the combination of photographs with magical realist and fantastic passages, the novel provides a commentary on the role of visual representations in the construction of a collective memory of 9/11.

Constructing an Icon: The Self-Referentiality and Framing of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

?Que pincel tan soberanofue a copiarte suficiente??Que numen movio la mente??Que virtud rigio la mano?[Whose was the peerless brushthat could rise copying you?What power could stir the mind?What strength the hand renew?]-Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Decima 103Esmera su respetuoso amor hablando a un retrato[She Adds Luster Her Respectful Love She Addresses a Portrait]1Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1648?-1695) is the most famous and celebrated female writer and intellectual of the Hispanic Baroque who, this day, occupies a privileged place among both Mexican and, more broadly, Hispanic writers. A nun and prolific author from Colonial Mexico, Sor Juana gained favor with influential, secular individuals because of her authorial accomplishments, which enabled her exist-at least textually-outside of her convent. The subsequent patronage by these powerful allies resulted in the publication of her work in Spain, which circulated in a secular, often courtly, milieu. The relationships she established with the viceregal couples of New Spain assured her of protection from her detractors-most of them men of the cloth-who perceived her writing be audacious, blasphemous, and unbefitting a woman, let alone a cloistered nun. These individuals sought have her give up her extensive library and her writing in order dedicate herself more appropriate activities. While Sor Juana ultimately did succumb this pressure, she had already amassed a significant corpus of work that showcases her own interest in-and engagement with-questions of subjectivity and representation. Because of her unique subject position a Mexican writer who circulated largely in Spain, she occupies a most uncommon space both a representative of Colonial Latin America and a part of Spain's Golden Age of literature and cultural production.Despite a vast amount of scholarship on Sor Juana and her work, one question that still merits investigation is how her self-inscription and representation coincides with, challenges, or determines how she is framed and represented by others.2 This tension between how Sor Juana sees and represents herself and how others perceive and depict her is the crux of this study. Frederick Luciani posits that Sor Juana was particularly interested in the phenomena of seeing and may well have constructed images of herself to counter and transcend diverse images of her that were in circulation, and that she contemplates herself as a seen object in her writing (Literary 24- 25). The most famous portrait of Sor Juana is attributed Juan de Miranda and is frequently dated between 1680 and 1688. Miranda portrays Sor Juana in a way that diverges from the traditional depiction of nuns at the time. Instead of showing her crowned with flowers or holding candles or other symbols used in the ceremony of a nun's profession, Sor Juana is shown in her library, surrounded by books and with quill in hand. This type of portrait is reminiscent more of male prelates and literary figures than of nuns (Burke 354). Another portrait, a bust-length oval, which is part of the collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has an inscription that states that it is a copy of an image made by Sor Juana herself. This has led many infer that all of the images of Sor Juana may derive from a self-portrait, yet there is no basis for this assumption (Burke 354-55). These and one other portrait of Sor Juana, from 1750 by Miguel Cabrera, are the most widely known portrayals of the Mexican nun. Comparatively little critical attention, however, has been given the role of visual representations of Sor Juana that accompanied her works when they were published in Spain. These portraits are the engraved frontispieces of the Segundo volumen de las obras (Seville, 1692) and Fama y obras posthumas (Madrid, 1700) editions of her works, which participate in many conventional forms of representation on frontispieces and title pages of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. …

To see eye to eye: the role of visual representations in building shared mental models in design teams

Whereas design team mental models do not differ significantly from team mental models in other domains, task mental models in design are different in that they are contingent on visual representations. To design a tangible entity that must be specified in terms of form, size, materials, colours and so on, the team conducts a search in which partial candidate-solutions are generated and manipulated, while team members discuss and reason about them. Representations in the form of rapid sketches serve as artifacts that represent the designed entity in its various phases of developments. The sketches are used to communicate ideas and concepts, to negotiate features of possible solutions, and ultimately – to converge into one the mental models of individual designers, who endeavor to see the problem and its solution eye to eye and finally espouse a shared team task mental model which is embedded in agreed-upon representations.

Visual representations as ‘artefacts of knowing’

How does the manipulation of visual representations play a role in the practices of generating, evolving and exchanging knowledge? The role of visual representation in mediating knowledge work is explored in a study of design work of an architectural practice, Edward Cullinan Architects. The intensity of interactions with visual representations in the everyday activities on design projects is immediately striking. Through a discussion of observed design episodes, two ways are articulated in which visual representations act as ‘artefacts of knowing’. As communication media they are symbolic representations, rich in meaning, through which ideas are articulated, developed and exchanged. Furthermore, as tangible artefacts they constitute material entities with which to interact and thereby develop knowledge. The communicative and interactive properties of visual representations constitute them as central elements of knowledge work. The paper explores emblematic knowledge practices supported by visual representation and concludes by pinpointing avenues for further research. Comment la manipulation de représentations visuelles joue-t-elle un rôle dans les pratiques de production, d'évolution et d'échange du savoir ? Le rôle de la représentation visuelle en tant qu'interface avec le travail intellectuel est analysé dans le cadre d'une étude d'un travail de conception d'un cabinet d'architectes (Edward Cullinan Architects). L'intensité des interactions avec les représentations visuelles dans les activités quotidiennes concernant des projets de conception est frappante. Au travers d'une analyse d'épisodes observés lors du travail de conception, l'auteur analyse deux voies le long desquelles les représentations visuelles agissent comme ‘artéfacts du savoir’. En tant que moyens de communication, ce sont des représentations symboliques, riches de signification, à travers lesquelles des idées sont exprimées, développées et échangées. De plus, en tant qu'artéfacts tangibles, ils constituent des entités matérielles avec lesquelles interagir et, par conséquent, développer de la connaissance. Les propriétés communicatives et interactives des représentations visuelles leur donnent vocation à être des éléments centraux du travail intellectuel. Cet article explore les pratiques emblématiques de la connaissance soutenues par des représentations visuelles et conclut en ouvrant des voies pour d'autres recherches. Mots-clés: artéfacts et pratique, connaissance située dans la conception, représentations visuelles