| Function |
Purpose: this is when the participant explicitly states that the purpose of the graph is to align with the purpose of the task. |
P2: Well you want to see the effect of temperature on growth. Here (pointing to the graph), you can easily see the two treatments, [and the] two levels of temperatures that were used while they changed over time. GS4: My question was how temperature affects the growth of bacteria, so here I can see the difference between these two lines is how much difference the temperature had on the growth. |
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Time: participant is using phrases like “change over time” or “flow over time” to justify choosing a line graph. |
P5: I would say that [usually] [when you have the variable] time, a line graph is used. GS1: I would be able to show how the cell number changed over time. UGR1: Things that are measuring changes over time I think lines show trends there better than my initial thought of a bar graph. |
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Variables: participant explains variables in the data table using the words “independent” or “dependent.” |
P5: So because we have independent variable, time and dependent variable, number of leaves and we have two—in this case, two different conditions of, uh, amount of water that a second variable and we can just show it as two different lines. GS1: I was trying to decide whether or not time was going to be a continuous variable. I ended up thinking it would be, even though it might not be because of the distinct chosen time points. |
| Invention |
Statistics: participant is talking about either descriptive or inferential statistics. |
P2: Of course we know that as more time passes bacteria grow faster, but there could be an interaction between time and temperature [not depicted by the data plotted]. GS3: … in the beginning I was thinking [of] putting the standard deviations but I decided to [plot] the data first [and] I think that putting a linear regression is very easy to use and read. UGR4: You can’t compare the number of leaves for 15 ml at 120 hours with the 5 ml at 30 hours because that’s just not a fair comparison. You have to show them linearly and in some kind of relationship. UGNR6: A best fit line is like when you have points that almost make a linear line but they’re a little bit off which could be due to experimental error. So you draw a line that best represents all the data so it doesn’t go minimum and a maximum so it kind of evens it out if you have some equal number of points below the best fit line and above, so it makes an average between the line. |
| Learning/reflection |
Evaluation: participant is talking about the general graphing habits, future directions, or take-home message. |
P5: (Pointing to the graph) If this [was] 4 different plants instead of time points then I probably would have [made] a bar graph, [to accommodate for] more categories. GS8: If I were to do any other type of bar graph or something, I’m not very sure how to do that by myself. Maybe if I were to do it in Excel then, yeah. The truth is, I don’t really know what type of data to use for a bar graph. UGR4: One of the scales in the experiment was the passing of time. You can’t use a bar graph or pie chart to show the passing of time, because you’re going to want to show it like linearly along some kind of axis, so that means you’re going to have to find some way to put the data points sequentially according to the time it happened, in order to compare them accurately. UGNR1: This is the most common type of graph that I make so I thought of this kind first. |
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Data table: this is when the participant is making sense of the data provided in the data table as evidenced by summarizing the data and or the variables presented. |
GS1: … since the two variables have the same cell number over time, things that are being studied could both be displayed on the same graph which would help to visualize by looking at one time point, [which is] why I chose the line [graph]. UGR1: The way this chart is presented, at first I thought it was a comparison because plant 1,2, and 3 is redundant, but that’s just in my treatment group so I misread that. UGNR3: Because in order to plot time versus number of leaves, you’d have to do a scatter plot of sorts. In retrospect, I should have made two graphs and separated them out into 5 and 15 ml. UGNR1: Because that’s what I thought about when I first looked at this chart and it does show the number of cells. |
| Critique |
Aesthetics: participant is using elements of graph design (e.g., gestalt principles and color) to critique the constructed graph. |
GS8: I know that if I were to make this graph in Excel, I could put in a lot of colors and make sense out of it. UGR1: Ideally, this would be a little bit more visually appealing with different colors and evenly spaced dots and lines.
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