The Graph Rubric: Development of a Teaching, Learning, and Research Tool

As undergraduate biology curricula increasingly aim to provide students with access to courses and experiences that engage them in the practices of science, tools are needed for instruction, evaluation, and research around student learning. One of the important skills for undergraduate biology students to master is the selection and creation of appropriate graphs to summarize data they acquire through investigations in their course work and research experiences. Graphing is a complex skill, and there are few, discipline-informed tools available for instructors, students, and researchers to use. Here, we describe the development of a graph rubric informed by literature from the learning sciences, statistics, representations literature, and feedback and use of the rubric by a variety of users. The result is an evidence-based, analytic rubric that consists of categories essential for graph choice and construction: graph mechanics, graph communication, and graph choice. Each category of the rubric can be evaluated at three levels of achievement. Our analysis demonstrates the potential for the rubric to provide formative feedback to students and allow instructors to gauge and guide learning and instruction. We further discuss and identify potentially interesting research targets for science education researchers.