As assessment tools, graphs can facilitate the evaluation of both academic and cognitive skills, including higher-order cognitive skills. The most basic test questions using graphs pertain to the concrete skills of reading a graph, while the more advanced and nuanced skills to be tested include those such as writing an equation, selecting graphs to answer a particular problem, comparing and contrasting graphs, and writing a scientific paper.
The list below identifies ideas for using graphs as assessment tools:
Graph-Reading Skills
Mathematical Skills
Writing Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Concept Formation
Over 8,000 graphs from Schottenbauer Publishing provide real-life topics for student learning, including sports, transportation, construction, environment, music, entertainment/toys, and general physics.
Graph-Reading Skills
- Identify the variables described in the graph.
- Identify the minimum and maximum values in the graph.
- Identify the shape of the graph.
Mathematical Skills
- Write a mathematical function describing the graph.
Writing Skills
- Write a meaningful description about a graph.
- Write a meaningful article about a set of graphs.
Critical Thinking Skills
- Compare and contrast two graphs.
- Compare a graph to a known theory.
Concept Formation
- What principles can be gleaned from a graph or set of graphs?
- Out of a group of graphs, is there an unexpected outcome? Is this an exception, or an error?
Over 8,000 graphs from Schottenbauer Publishing provide real-life topics for student learning, including sports, transportation, construction, environment, music, entertainment/toys, and general physics.
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