Undergraduate Students’ Graphical Comprehension in the Age of Misinformation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Studies of Postsecondary Mathematics Teaching and Learning (Table 6)

Abstract

Contemporary news media frequently utilizes graphs to simplify the presentation of complex information. However, prevalence of misleading graphs on public platforms often makes readers susceptible to false information. This raises pertinent questions regarding the efficacy of our education system in adequately preparing students to interpret graphs. In this paper we present a case study that aims to explore undergraduate students’ interaction with misleading graphs and unpack their mathematical reasoning as they do so to identify patterns that can explain their graph interpretation abilities. The study's findings suggest that students who focused on the data in a graph, rather than its shape, demonstrated better proficiency in graph comprehension and in identifying misleading elements.

Authors

• Debasmita Basu, The New School

• Hong Binh Minh Nguyen, The New School