The Common Core State Standards place unprecedented emphasis on visual text--appropriately so, as visual components are increasingly ubiquitous in many kinds of text. This shift in emphasis requires substantial changes in our teaching. Concepts of print need to be expanded to include concepts of graphics, and specific graphical devices, such as…

Data from a cough challenge study are displayed with dot charts to demonstrate the importance of graphs in understanding data, principles of graph construction and visual perception. The data are available for use in the classroom.

Task analytic theories of graph comprehension account for the perceptual and conceptual processes required to extract specific information from graphs. Comparatively, the processes underlying information integration have received less attention. We propose a new framework for information integration that highlights visual integration and cognitive…

Graphical perception is the visual decoding of the quantitative and qualitative information encoded on graphs. Some recent theoretical/experimental investigations of graphical perception are described, identifying certain elementary graphical-perception tasks that are performed in the visual decoding of quantitative information from graphs.…

This paper presents an assessment tool which can be used during the first weeks of calculus to measure students' visual thinking skills. We have developed and applied this instrument in classes for the last three years, tabulating results and interviewing students on a regular basis. We discuss our findings and provide hints to using the…

Shows that graphs can reveal much about feedback systems that formula conceal, especially as microcomputers can provide complex graphs presented as animations and allow students to interact easily with them. Describes feedback systems, evolution of the system, and phase diagram. (YP)