SmartGraphs
In this project, we're studying the educational value of "SmartGraphs," digital objects that “know” about themselves and that provide scaffolding to students to help them learn about graphs and the concepts they convey.
We're creating digital SmartGraphs that can be authored or customized by teachers and accept inputs from students’ responses, sketches, functions, models, and probes. We're also creating software to analyze the graphs for the kinds of features that experts recognize and engage students in conversations that instruct and assess.
The project goal is to develop SmartGraphs, document their effectiveness through rigorous research, and scale up so this technology becomes widely available.
SmartGraphs software we develop, including an authoring system to create new activities, is licensed as open source. Activities we develop are also freely available under a Creative Commons license.
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Activity Spotlight
Maria's Run
Show that the motion of objects can be described by position, direction of motion, and speed.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-0918522. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
The SmartGraphs project is making use of existing research about students’ understanding of graphs and graphing. Two articles that we have found especially useful are “Making sense of graphs: Critical factors influencing comprehension and instructional implications” (Friel, Curcio, & Bright, 2001) and “Representation in school mathematics: Learning to graph and graphing to learn” (Monk, 2003). The project staff has also reviewed many software programs used in schools to make and analyze graphs.
The SmartGraphs project is conducting formative research to help us create software that is both powerful and easy to use. We study both the software features and the activities that make use of the software features. Research techniques include surveys, interviews, screen recordings, and observations of software trials in both small groups and whole classes.
In 2011 and 2012 we are conducting a randomized experimental trial in several dozen classrooms where students are studying a particular unit in a Physical Science course. The primary goal of this study is to find out whether the use of SmartGraphs activities results in students learning more about graphs and about the key physical science concepts in this unit that are taught using graphs, as compared to students who do not use SmartGraphs.
SmartGraphs Activities
January 2012: These six activities require the use of an up-to-date Web browser: Google Chrome, Apple Safari 4 and above, Mozilla Firefox 3 and above, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and above. Click on the activity name to start the activity.
Boiling Water
This demo illustrates users’ interactions with graphs in a SmartGraphs activity.
Five activities are designed for use in a standard motion unit in Physical Science classes. These activities focus on position-time graphs, velocity-time graphs, and acceleration due to gravity. Each takes 30-40 minutes for students to complete. Portions of the first three activities require use of a motion sensor; the last two do not.
Maria’s Run
Shows that the motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. (The activity requires a Vernier Go!Motion sensor.)
» Lesson Plan and Student Assessment documents are also available.
Motion Toward and Away
Explores different ways of describing motion on a graph. (The activity requires a Vernier Go!Motion sensor.)
» Lesson Plan and Student Assessment documents are also available.
How Fast Am I Moving?
Uses the position of an object at several times to determine the direction and velocity traveled during different time intervals. (The activity requires a Vernier Go!Motion sensor.)
» Lesson Plan and Student Assessment documents are also available.
Describing Velocity
Connects the motion of an object to the corresponding position- time and velocity-time graphs to determine the velocity during different intervals.
» Lesson Plan and Student Assessment documents are also available.
Was Galileo Right?
Explores the effects of gravity on light and heavy objects during free fall.
» Lesson Plan and Student Assessment documents are also available.
In each activity, data persist during the browser session but are not otherwise saved.
Activity Spotlight
Maria's Run
Show that the motion of objects can be described by position, direction of motion, and speed.
Learn More