Drawings from Homework Assignments

  1. Data Gathering:
    • Over 4,000 drawings created by students from MIT, Harvard, and Duke University in response to 14 different PtL assignments.
    • Drawings scored by teaching assistants, using a standardized grading scheme, and then returned to students, along with the grading scheme.
    • Student and teaching assistants follow-up questionnaires designed to determine the usefulness of the exercise.
    • Assignments and questionnaires continually refined.
  2. Data Entry (in database):
    • Electronic copies of each student’s drawing, grading scheme, and follow-up questionnaire entered in an online database.
  3. Data Analysis (in database):
    • Drawings ‘tagged’ according to assignment-wide features, including numerical scores based on the grading scheme, categorical tags based on whether the drawing is an “Excellent Explanation”, “Engaging But Misleading”, contains a “Striking Misconception”, etc.  
    • Drawings are also tagged according to assignment-specific features, including specific scientific misconceptions, omissions, contradictions, etc.    
    • When the primary phase of analysis is complete, the database will generate a summary of the assignment-wide and -specific features. 
    • The searchable metadata for each drawing will help inform the production of a visualization tool.
  4. Preliminary Findings:
    • TBA summer 2009

Contact us for more info.

Student Collaborative Workshops:  (click here for images)

Picturing to Learn has conducted a series of collaborative workshops with design and science students collaborating to visually express scientific ideas. Although our workshops were initially tangential they have proven to be a valuable part of our project.

For more detailed findings please contact us.