Diagrams in the National Curriculum Study

We are researchers at the University of Sussex and we would like to tell you about a research study that we are conducting on children's comprehension of diagrams.

The research is aimed at improving how diagrams are taught and we expect that our findings will inform improvements in the ways that diagrams are used across the curriculum.

In this study we seek to find out more about primary school children's understanding of various forms of diagrams (e.g. graphs, charts) and how their learning can be helped by computer technology. Initially we are focussing on the comprehension of line graphs by 8 to 11 year olds.

We have designed 3 diagram activities: "Identifying Graphicacy", a "Graph Comprehension Questionnaire", and a computer-based "Interactive Racing Car" game. For each activity, children will use a large interactive touch-screen display. Students interact with our research software that offers them an engaging experience and that is designed to develop their 'graphicacy' skills.

This research is being conducted at the Cognitive and Language Processing Systems Group (CALPS) in the Informatics Department.