Abstract:

Reading and interpreting graphs is an important component of the school curricula, across multiple subjects, including science and mathematics. The ability to interpret graphical representations, make connections between variables, construct graphs, and compare and combine different graphs is an essential prerequisite for developing scientific literacy and higher-order thinking skills.

The aim of this contribution is to present a survey of students’ understanding of graphical representation of motion. The survey was conducted among 85 first-year pre-service primary school teachers at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. During the semester, students had 2 hours lecture and 2 hours of practical work on this topic. Graphical representation of motion was introduced to them through animations, practical work, AR applications and more. The data was collected with two knowledge tests that were conducted at the end of the semester. In the first test, the students analysed a position-time graph, while in the second test they worked with a speed-time graph.

From the results on the first knowledge test, it is evident that 70% of students understood the meaning of the graph's slope, 60% knew the difference between position and path, but only a quarter calculated the speed. The results from the second knowledge test indicated that 80% of students correctly described motion from the graph. In contrast, only 4% of the students correctly drew an acceleration- time graph, which was identified as the most difficult task.

These survey results provide an insight into pre-service primary school teachers’ knowledge of graphical representation of motion. Despite the widespread use of motion and graphs in everyday life, they still struggle with understanding, describing, and constructing graphs. This result indicates the need to emphasise these topics more strongly in future lessons and to choose other teaching strategies.

Keywords:

Graphs, motion, primary school.