Tuning Perceptions and Inferences to See a Graph in a New Way

Abstract

This work examines the representational and social features of a computational modeling activity to understand the role they play in helping a student make sense of a simulation graph. Specifically, it examines shifts in the student’s thinking as she reflects on the output of a computational model of thermal equilibration, which she has built. By analyzing the student’s trajectory through the lens of Coordination Class theory, the paper illuminates how she comes to see the simulation graph in a more sophisticated way through her interactions with the technology and the interviewer. The paper shows how these features of the computational modeling activity support her transition from seeing oscillations of temperature about the mean as a visual effect caused by the computer screen, to understanding that oscillation amplitudes are related to microscopic fluctuations in temperature, which decrease as the number of particles in the system increases.