Inquiry instruction often neglects graphing. It gives students few opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to take advantage of graphs, and which are called for by current science education standards. Yet, it is not well known how to support graphing skills, particularly within middle school science inquiry contexts. Using qualitative graphs is a promising, but underexplored approach. In contrast to quantitative graphs, which can lead students to focus too narrowly on the mechanics of plotting points, qualitative graphs can encourage students to relate graphical representations to their conceptual meaning. Guided by the Knowledge Integration framework, which recognizes and guides students in integrating their diverse ideas about science, we incorporated qualitative graphing activities into a seventh grade web‐based inquiry unit about cell division and cancer treatment. In Study 1, we characterized the kinds of graphs students generated in terms of their integration of graphical and scientific knowledge. We also found that students (
- Award ID(s):
- 1726180
- PAR ID:
- 10288762
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Science Education and Technology
- Volume:
- 30
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1059-0145
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 431 to 446
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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