As a science teacher, I am all too aware of how frustrating looking at large amounts of data can be. I teach high school freshmen, and a large part of freshmen year is devoted to teaching kids how to analyze data that is presented in various forms. I also spend time teaching them how to create tables and represent data in meaningful forms. I think it is important for students to realize the impact that visually appealing data can have. Whenever students are presenting information in my class, there is a good chance that they are being graded on its ability to engage the reader. I think there are a couple of different ways that students are better able to do that using technology today.
First, as a scientist and a teacher, I think it is important that there are programs out there that will arrange data for me. Google Forms is an easy way for students to create a survey and then be able to view their data immediately in the form of graphs. For a student doing their own research, they would be able to simply copy and paste this data into a document to share with their peers. Google Sheets and Google Docs also have the ability to produce graphs and charts with data input. I think using these programs just to generate data is a good start. But there are now various programs available that make the presentation of this data more appealing.
Infographics have changed the way that people view information. We live in a society where massive amounts of information are thrown at us each day.
When people view an information graphic (infographic) they are viewing a very concise version of a huge topic. I think infographics reinforce the “Magic Number 7” theory proposed by psychologist George Miller. This idea states that our short term memory is capable of holding only 7 pieces of information (plus or minus two) (McLeod, 2009). This doesn’t really sound like a lot, but “ if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our short term memory” (McLeod, 2009). I think we can really use this with infographics. I could definitely see using this rule of 7 to have students create an infographic study guide for their test.
The choice of statistics used in the infographic can create a powerful argument for its subject. Scientists are required to be able to interpret data effectively while evaluating the credibility of its source. With a well researched infographic, succinct information can be shown using only the most credible sources. The whole point of an infographic is to make sure that you present the most powerful information quickly and effectively. I think it’s important to note that the most powerful information that you can use is generally quantitative in nature. I would argue that it’s just a poster and not an infographic if you are not presenting quantitative data.
There are several tools available to students today to create infographics. Piktochart is one of my favorites. It gives you various templates in which you can present your information and it’s pretty user friendly if you pay attention to the tour when you sign up. This article provides a list of tools that you can use to create an infographic. It is interesting because about four years ago, the only tool I knew of to create an infographic was Piktochart. This article talks about what infographics are in general, why we would use them, and how to create them. Furthermore, it introduces the readers to different types of infographics that exist. Finally, I have included an article that discusses some innovative ways to use infographics in the classroom.
Reference
McLeod, S. A. (2009). Short Term Memory. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/short-term-memory.html
April,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that visually representing data is even more important of a skill in the science world than in all other content areas. Students have exposure to a lot more data than they would in a reading class.
Like you mentioned, I love using Google Forms to take a quick survey and have immediate access to the data in visual (graph) form. It makes it much easier for me to interpret versus reading through many lines of text. I agree that this would be an easy way for your students to create the basic visuals that they need to then put into a more complex graphic, such as an infographic.
I think using an infographic at the high school level is a great way for students to put a lot of information into a visual display. You made a really good point when you said, "The whole point of an infographic is to make sure that you present the most powerful information quickly and effectively." This would be a great way to teach students to only include the most important information, as I'm sure that the amount of scientific data and information available to them would be overwhelming to most audiences. Infographics are a great way to keep all that information concise and just give out the most relevant and important data.
April,
ReplyDeleteRe: “I think there are a couple of different ways that students are better able to do that using technology today.”
I really like how you suggest using all the tools that Google has to offer. These tools didn’t even cross my mind when I was thinking about teaching students how to visualize their data. What a great idea to begin here. As a bonus, most students are familiar with all these tools and wouldn’t stress out over how to use the tool, rather focus on the data at hand.
In addition, the resource you provided about innovative ways to use infographics in the classroom is wonderful! I bookmarked it right away to use as a reference next school year. After reading all about infographics and what all they can provide for students, I am definitely going try to incorporate them throughout my lessons next year. We are going to project based learning in science and social studies next year, and I think infographics would be a great way for students to display their understanding of what they are learning in a variety of ways.
April,
ReplyDeleteI agree that chunking information is vital and that an infographic is a great way to do so. Adding the visuals to the infographic will really help students to store the information. The only thing that I have noticed when doing something similar to a rule of seven with a study guide is that it is difficult to get the students to think deeper, they seem to only write a couple of really short sentences that barely scratch the surface of what we have learned. I think this is a really good strategy, but I am struggling with motivating the students to dig deeper.
April,
ReplyDeleteRE: " I think infographics reinforce the “Magic Number 7” theory proposed by psychologist George Miller. This idea states that our short term memory is capable of holding only 7 pieces of information (plus or minus two) (McLeod, 2009). This doesn’t really sound like a lot, but “ if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our short term memory” (McLeod, 2009)."
The fact that short term memory can only hold roughly 7 pieces of information at a time helps to explain the information overload that our students experience in the Information Age. I agree with you and McLeod that chunking information can help with infowhelm. Infographics often chunk information in an effort to make the data easier to understand.
Here is an article, though off the topic of data visualization, that you might be interested in. It explains how teachers can use chunking to design better instruction:
http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/
Dr. Dell