How can the experience of making a simple pinhole camera with inexpensive materials help our students think more creatively and critically about light? 

How can conversations around an athlete’s record-breaking sprint actively engage our students in learning concepts around linear motion?

What do our students learn about the practice of science when we encourage them to write the biographies of scientists who appear in their textbook? 

How do we provide spaces for our students to make and manipulate new materials from old discarded or inexpensive material? 

Read this issue to explore these and many other such teaching-learning experiences in middle-stage science and preparatory stage EVS. 

Science education literature states that fostering students’ and teachers’ knowledge of NOS has shifted from being a desirable goal to an essential one. This article focuses on the development of NOS conceptions among MA Education students. To develop those conceptions, the researcher designed various learning activities in the context of ​‘research of history on DNA’. Seven students were observed and audiotaped while working in groups in this classroom qualitative study. Before the intervention, pre-test on ​‘views on science’- Chen (2006) and group discussions held with participants indicated that their NOS conceptions were basic. After 7 sessions, a post-test was administered to students asking to justify NOS conceptions. These conceptions: scientifc knowledge is tentative, laws are generalisations or universal relationships, theories are inferred explanations of nature; and that science is empirically based, socio-culturally embedded, and creative. Classroom discourses and responses to a post-test indicated that participants justifed some NOS conceptions very well and some not so very well. It also argues that HOS ofers potential for improved learning of NOS.

The fourth edition of the Mountains of Life newsletter celebrates International Mountain Day, focussing on sustainable mountain solutions through innovation, adaptation, and youth engagement. The newsletter includes the highlights of the Mountains of Life festival, held at our Bengaluru campus from 13 – 26 November 2024. We also feature inspiring stories from interns, and acknowledge the efforts of mountain enthusiasts, especially the youth, alongside select contributions from readers. Thank you for your continued support — happy reading!

The Rushikulya beach in eastern India is considered to be an important rookery (nesting site) for a species of migratory marine turtle, the olive ridleys Lepidochelys olivacea, because it is one of a handful of sites around the world where an arribada or mass-nesting event occurs. During an arribada, thousands of ridleys nest simultaneously over a small section of the beach, and several weeks later, millions of hatchlings emerge from these nests and crawl into the sea. Given the uniqueness of this phenomenon, conservation programmes have emphasised the monitoring and protection of ridleys during an arribada. In Rushikulya, this involves an assemblage of multiple actors, including biologists, their local assistants, and staff of the Odisha Forest Department. In this article, I use the concept of ontological choreography, drawn from multispecies scholarship, to focus attention on how members of this assemblage bring together different ontological orders, mainly nature and the individual self, to protect the ridleys. Further, I use this concept to direct attention to the hybrid nature of conservation practice — that it can simultaneously be affective, embodied, performative, sensory and technical. Overall, this article demonstrates how multispecies approaches can enrich social studies of conservation.

Authors:

Madhuri Ramesh

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर का 22वाँ अंक ​‘समावेशी शिक्षा विशेषांक’ है। समावेशन शब्द एकबारगी विशेष दक्षता वाले बच्चों के बारे में ध्वनित होता मालूम होता है। लेकिन इसकी परतों को खोलने पर समझ में आता है कि इसमें विशेष दक्षता वाले बच्चों की बात तो निश्चित तौर पर है ही, साथ ही बात है अलग-अलग सामाजिक‑आर्थिक और सांस्कृतिक परिवेश के विविध मनोभावों वाले वंचित समुदाय के बच्चों की शिक्षा और संसाधनों के बारे में भी। संवैधानिक मूल्यों में रचे बसे स्नेह और सम्मान जैसे मानवीय मूल्य हर बच्चे के लिए ज़रूरी हैं। 

इस अंक में आप पढ़ेंगे कि शिक्षक शिक्षा में समावेशन को लेकर किस तरह की योजनाएँ हैं; किस तरह एक विशेष विद्यालय को समावेशी विद्यालय बनाया जा सका; और कलाओं, खेलों, संगीत, आदि के ज़रिए किस तरह समावेशन को दस्तावेज़ों से निकालकर हक़ीक़त में उतारा गया। 

आप इस अंक में कुछ स्थाई स्तम्भ भी पढ़ेंगे जिनमें ​‘उम्मीद जगाते शिक्षक’ की कहानी है, ​‘किताबों से दोस्ती’ में जानेंगे 3 सुन्दर किताबों के बारे में, और ​‘आइए, करके देखें’ में समावेशन पर आधारित ऐसी गतिविधियाँ जिन्हें आसानी से कराया जा सकता है। इनके साथ ​‘शिक्षकों की डायरी’ स्तम्भ में आप पढ़ेंगे शिक्षकों के काम,  उनकी बातें,  उनके अनुभव।

Employment projection, particularly at the micro or sectoral level, is considered as a useful tool for economic planners and policymakers to have a better understanding of future trends and growth, and accordingly, the policies and planning could be designed for the supply side of the labour market. 

This study finds that there is a lack of literature in the recent past on the above issue in the context of India, hence in this paper, we have tried to estimate employment numbers for seven broad economic sectors for the period 2024 – 25 to 2030 – 31. The study uses the ​“Top-down” approach to estimate and project the employment numbers by using the employment-output elasticities and forecasted values of growth rates of gross value added (GVA) at the sectoral level. 

Three broad conclusions have been drawn from the employment estimates. First, the agriculture and allied sector continued to be the dominant force in creating employment opportunities till 2030 – 31, however, a surge of employment in the sector in recent years may unlikely continue in the future. Second, the slowing down of economic activities in services sector is expected to dent high employment growth prospects in the sector. Third, a phenomenal rise of employment in industry particularly in manufacturing sector in recent years augurs well for the economy which is expected to remain buoyant in the medium term as well

The Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in 2018 to mitigate catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure. This government-sponsored health insurance scheme is implemented through six digital portals, including a grievance redressal system, with the involvement of multiple stakeholders. The grievance redressal mechanisms in PMJAY are aimed at ensuring access to information, contribute to the responsiveness of the scheme and safeguard it against any fraudulent practices. 

As a pioneering effort, this research explores the role and experiences of grievance redressal systems by exploring the following research questions: 1) What are the processes of collecting and responding to grievances in PMJAY? 2) How is the awareness about the Grievance Redressal System among the beneficiaries?, and 3) What is the experience of beneficiaries of interaction with the Grievance Redressal System of PMJAY? 

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from January 2022 to August 2023 in Gujarat, using a mixed-method approach to data collection from various primary and secondary sources. The findings from the study show that multiple formal and informal channels are active with varying accessibility among the beneficiaries. A significant proportion of beneficiaries were unaware of their entitlements and grievance redressal mechanisms. Awareness was low regarding internet-based formal channels and communication through letters or emails. 

The findings underscore the necessity for enhanced outreach efforts, using detailed information dissemination via print and outdoor media. Building trust in the grievance redressal system is essential to increase its use and demand among the beneficiaries. Insights from this study will be useful to strengthen the grievance redressal system of the PMJAY scheme or similar government schemes.

The present paper is a conceptual paper which explores the innate nature of languages exploring how they are in constant flux. From their sociological birth to them being politically accepted, languages go through a plethora of changes. This paper explores concepts like high and low varieties of language e.g., Hindi in playgrounds and Hindi used to teach; the concept of prestige associated with a language, as well as concepts like elaborate and restricted code by Basil Bernstein. It explores the creole continuum and how they are connected to language death. Diglossic conditions may also lead to languages being used over another leading to language disuse. Certain linguistic groups, despite having a working language, assimilate themselves with a larger language due to many possible reasons (economic, political, geographical or anything else). This paper will take the discussion forward with how policy decisions can also lead to systematic extinction of certain languages due to the farsightedness of language planning. Paulo Friere (Friere, 1985) spoke about how local languages can be the backbones of language education. This paper explores the inability of state level language planning policies at incorporating local languages into the curriculum leading to eventual endangerment of the language over generations. This paper will also look at languages with shared script and how it might be the result of language imperialism over centuries. The content and opinions expressed are that of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by/​do not necessarily reflect the views of Azim Premji University.

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of short-term fasting and subsequent re-feeding cycles on compensatory growth performance, blood glucose levels, and digestive enzyme activity in mono-sex juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) over a 60-day period. A total of 150 juvenile Nile tilapia (Avg. wt. 9.34 ± 0.97 g) were allocated into five treatment groups: a control group (continuously fed) and four fasting groups — T1 (1‑day fasting), T2 (3‑day fasting), T3 (5‑day fasting), and T4 (7‑day fasting). Re-feeding occurred for 7 days in each group immediately following the fasting period in a recurring cycle. The average weight gain, specific growth rate, and feed efficiency ratio significantly (p < 0.05) declined starting from the T3 group. Blood glucose levels during fasting significantly decreased starting from the T2 group, but after re-feeding, they returned to levels comparable to the control group. The liver glycogen levels significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased during fasting and completely recovered upon re-feeding, while muscle glycogen levels did not show any significant (p ≤ 0.05) changes throughout the experimental duration. The activities of the digestive enzymes amylase and lipase significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased during fasting starting from T1 and T2 groups, respectively, but after re-feeding, they returned to the levels seen in the control group. In contrast, the protease enzyme levels during the fasting period initially increased up to the T2 group and subsequently returned to control levels in the T4 group. The findings of this study indicate that only the groups that experienced very short fasting periods, specifically up to the T2 group, attained body weights like the control group upon re-feeding due to compensatory growth. Therefore, this study concluded that implementing up to 3 days of fasting followed by 7 days of re-feeding in multiple cycles can serve as a strategy for minimizing input costs in tilapia farming.

There has been sustained debate for several decades, on the complex relationships between gender and science. Feminist scholars have critiqued the practices of science as being hegemonic. They trace the history of dominant practices to movements such as logical positivism. The justification for such a methodology drew from the premise that it led to the production of ​‘objective’ knowledge — true and free from human bias. However, a methodology that could be alienating for girls considering the traditional ways through which women have been socialised, could hinder the development of a ​‘science identity’. For girls who manage to continue with science in higher education, there are various other intangible barriers keeping them away from pursuing what seemed during their formative years as promising careers in science. This article presents an analysis of an assignment taken up by students in a Master’s in Education programme, as part of a course in Science Education. It required groups of students to interview a woman scientist in person and observe her working in the institution with which she is affiliated. The qualitative, thematic analysis presented multiple narratives reflecting on the role of support systems together with large challenges in overcoming perceived societal biases. However, the questions and possibilities raised by them present understanding and hope to young girls identifying with and hoping to pursue their interests in science.

Come fall in love with Mathematics! and send in your feedback to AtRightAngles.​editor@​apu.​edu.​in in English, Hindi or Kannada.

The consolidation of agricultural lands by dominant socio-economic groups is discussed in the context of contemporary debate on the land question by foregrounding market-led land transfers as a driver of accumulation in rural India. Empirically rooted in central India, the paper studies the commodification and increasing concentration of land as an outcome of the processes of agrarian change at work. 

The study explores the role of fish consumption in addressing nutrition security and malnutrition in a rural village in Telangana, India. It highlights that fish, particularly small indigenous species, provide affordable, high-quality protein and micronutrients. The study compares fish with other protein sources like poultry and livestock, finding that fish consumption significantly meets the nutritional needs of the rural population more effectively than other animal sources. India, despite being the third-largest fish producer globally, still faces challenges with malnutrition, especially among children and women. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports show alarming rates of stunting, wasting, and anemia, particularly in Telangana. The study demonstrates how increased fish consumption can play a crucial role in reducing these malnutrition rates by offering a cost-effective and nutrient-dense food source. The state government has encouraged fish production in Telangana through subsidies and initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. However, the research suggests that the fish distribution infrastructure needs significant improvement to increase access to fish for the broader population. The paper concludes that promoting fish consumption can be a viable strategy to combat malnutrition, improve food security, and provide economic opportunities for rural communities. Policy recommendations include enhancing market infrastructure, increasing fish production through scientific aquaculture, and raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of fish. These measures could ensure that fish contributes more significantly to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related to hunger and malnutrition.

Authors: Gummadi Sridevi, Amalendu Jyotishi, Balaji Patturi, Matta Srinivas

What does mental health mean to the youth? How is it expressed beyond just diagnostic labels? The book on ​‘Creative expressions on mental health among youth’ features over 40 powerful contributions through a range of forms that include poetry, prose, Gond and Bhil art, sketches, doodle art as well as excerpts from diaries. The writings are presented in Hindi, English and Pardhi languages thus creating a safe and inclusive space for many. Each word and each image encapsulate a story that is hidden yet spoken. This book is an effort to break silences around the conversations on mental health.

Curators:

Seema Sharma, Arima Mishra, Prashant Kesharvani, Mayur Trivedi

While the 73^rd and 74^th constitutional amendments contributed to the increase in women elected representatives in the Indian political ecosystem, the efficacy of this phenomenon has been questioned multiple times. The evidence points out that electoral participation is merely a symbolic gesture, which ultimately undercuts women’s empowerment by co-opting them into a patently corrupt, male-dominated political system. It is widely acknowledged that the political journey is not smooth for elected women representatives (EWR) in a patriarchal society, which is further divided on caste lines. Due to the existing structural challenges and insufficient support system, EWRs take a longer time to understand their responsibilities and perform their duties effectively. Training and awareness-building programmes of the state government and NGOs have had limited success in solving these challenges. Therefore, this research project was taken up by faculty and students of Azim Premji University to understand the challenges faced by EWRs, and thereby, design training modules, which will help them resolve these challenges. Data collection was done in seven panchayats around Azim Premji University. EWRs along with other respondents have given us substantial insights based on which an attempt to create a typology of challenges by EWRs is made.

हमारे समाज में स्त्री-पुरुष, लड़के-लड़कियों के बीच ग़ैर‑बराबरी की सामाजिक‑सांस्कृतिक जड़ें आज भी बहुत गहरी हैं। इनपर कक्षा में बात करना बहुत ज़रूरी है। पाठशाला के इक्कीसवें अंक के एक लेख में इस विषय पर बच्चों से की गई चर्चा के अनुभव प्रस्तुत किए गए हैं। एक अन्य लेख इस बात की पैरवी करता है कि बच्चे डर के माहौल से नहीं, बल्कि भावनात्मक जुड़ाव से बेहतर सीखते हैं। इसके लिए शिक्षकों में बच्चों के प्रति सहानुभूति व समानुभूति का बोध होना चाहिए। सुबह की सभा, यानी मॉर्निंग असेंबली का शिक्षकों और बच्चों के लिए क्या महत्त्व है; और इसे ज़्यादा रचनात्मक, शैक्षिक और भागीदारीपूर्ण कैसे बनाया जा सकता है?  एक लेख में इस बारे में चर्चा की गई है। इबारती सवालों पर काम के अनुभव पर आधारित एक लेख में बताया गया है कि जब तक गणित में भाषा का ज़्यादा-से-ज़्यादा इस्तेमाल न किया जाए, बच्चों को गणित समझने में दिक़्क़त आती है। गणित के दूसरे लेख में मापन की अवधारणा, उसकी इकाइयों एवं पैमाने से लम्बाई मापने के अनुभव साझा किए गए हैं।

The third edition of the Mountains of Life newsletter celebrates Himalaya Diwas (9 September). This special edition highlights the critical role of the Himalayas in safeguarding nature and the impact of climate change on this unique ecosystem. Explore the rich biodiversity, conservation efforts, and folklore of the Himalayas, alongside recipes and stories from the region. Learn about melting glaciers, shifting weather patterns, and the growing threat of invasive species.

Studies based on the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) in India have shown that the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on household incomes was progressive in nature — richer households suffered more. But several media reports as well as purposive surveys carried out during the pandemic suggest that the poor suffered more than the rich. We use nationally representative panel data for urban India from the official Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to show that households that were relatively richer prior to the start of the pandemic suffered relatively less during the lockdown compared to households that were poorer. That is, the shock was regressive in nature. We also confirm that, as per CPHS, richer households did indeed experience higher drops in income than poorer ones. But we show that this progressivity is much less than what prevailed prior to the pandemic. Thus the pandemic either disrupted ongoing progressive income changes or was outright regressive in its impacts.

Authors:

Amit Basole, Anand Shrivastava, Jay Kulkarni and Akshit Arora

While the recent COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated attention to the public health challenges of our times, many of these concerns are certainly not new. There are multiple public health concerns including the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, health risks due to environmental degradation and climate change, and re-emergence of several communicable diseases. Responses to these challenges, including educational responses, have often been reductionist and hence found to be inadequate. There has been an increasing global recognition of the need for transformative education to address the complex health challenges of the 21^st century. In this article, we discuss one such effort in designing a public health education programme in India that echoes the sentiment of transformative learning that is contextual, competency-driven, trans disciplinary, reflective, and collaborative. We discuss how these aspects of learning were reflected and considered through a series of internal deliberations within the university and external consultations with different stakeholders. This process involved examining existing gaps in public health education, articulating the core competencies, developing the curriculum, and envisaging students’ contribution to public health practice in India.

Authors:

Arima Mishra, Adithya Pradyumna, Mukta Gundi, Edward Premdas Pinto and Prasanna Saligram

Poverty in India has been defined and measured in several different ways over the years. This report presents a unique way to measure rural poverty in Chhattisgarh using data from the Mission Antyodaya Survey of 2019. We construct a rural multidimensional deprivation index (RDI), composed of indicators in the areas of infrastructure, health and education. The index can be decomposed into its different sub-components to understand which of the indicators contribute the most to deprivation and can be analysed at different levels, starting from the block to the taluka, district and state level. From a policy and public action perspective, the RDI is extremely useful because it is composed of public provisioning of amenities at the village level. A high RDI reflects lack of access to public amenities and deprivation in villages. Because India has a decentralised structure where the Panchayats are responsible for taking governance at the grassroot levels.  Results from this report can be extremely useful to these institutions as they can identify which villages need provisioning of what amenities and act accordingly.

Editors: Sandhya Krishnan, Prasanna S, Sanket Gharat, Puja Guha, Amalendu Jyotishi, and Neeraj Hatekar.

This issue focuses on practices that build a school culture – practices that become so ingrained in the school’s ethos that they come naturally to everyone and do not change if those who helped develop these move out of the school. It includes several aspects of the school culture, such as creating an environment where all students feel safe, valued, and seen; where there is no fear of any subject, where there is a high level of collaboration among teachers and continuous engagement with parents.

When NASA provided free worldwide access to the Landsat data archive, scientists greatly expanded the analysis of new locations and novel topics. Of course, data democracy is not just for scientists. When citizens own the rights to generate and access data that speaks to their concerns, democracy is strengthened. Data democracy began to gain prominence in the early 2000s, with the growth of the open data movement. In today’s era of climate change, the term assumes increasing significance. Yet despite the large volume of opensource climate data, access remains largely limited to academia and business. Climate data democracy enables all sections of society to access climate data; understand how to use and interpret it; and be able to use data for climate action. Given the lack of data and severity of the crisis in the Global South, we argue that these regions must take the lead in driving conversations around climate data democracy.

Explore the Joy of Mathematics and send in your feedback to AtRightAngles.​editor@​apu.​edu.​in in English, Hindi or Kannada.

The principle of reasonable accommodation according to Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is defined as ​‘necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms’. Exploring the relationship between inclusive policies enacted in institutions of higher education in India, and their impact on those who claim accommodation, we discuss the nature of care that informs and animates such interactions. Drawing on feminist disability studies scholarship on care, particularly, Akemi Nishida’s recommendation that care is inherently collective we analyse two sets of transactions selected for study as enabling care in patronising and charitable manners, while simultaneously ignoring the politics of responding to and providing accommodations. We find that institutional responses to accommodation claims are less reflective of the socio-political and affective aspects integral to the RA principle. Instead, the focus seems to be on providing either technocratic solutions or interpreting RA claims as causing undue burden. By reading the RA principle through the lens of scholarship on interdependence, we aim to broaden the scope of adopting and interpreting the RA principle.

हमारे आज के विविधतापूर्ण और बहुरंगी समाज के लिए हिंसा और शोषण की संस्कृति ठीक नहीं है। आज के दौर के लिए संवाद की संस्कृति ही ज़्यादा ठीक है। इस विचार पर पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर के बीसवें अंक के एक लेख का मुख्य विषय के रूप में विस्तार से बात की गई है। इस अंक के कुछ लेखों में पाठ्यपुस्तक और पाठ्येतर कहानी-कविताओं के शिक्षण की सुविचारित योजना बनाकर भाषाई कौशलों के विकास और इनके आकलन पर किए गए कार्य के अनुभव प्रस्तुत किए गए हैं। जिसमें एक लेख डायरी लेखन और दूसरा लेख रीडिंग कॉर्नर के ज़रिए बच्चों को लेखन सिखाने के तरीकों के बारे में है। गणित का एक लेख बच्चों को शुरुआत से ही इबारती सवालों पर काम करने, खुद सवाल बनाने और जाँचने को गणितीयकरण की प्रक्रिया के तौर पर देखता है। दूसरा गणितीय सोच व तार्किक क्षमता के विकास के लिए तरीके सुझाता है। इस बार के संवाद का विषय विज्ञान, वैज्ञानिक सोच और पाठ्यपुस्तकें है।

Nature-based solutions have gained popularity as an approach to reduce the impacts of climate and environmental change, providing multi-fold and multi-sectoral benefits especially in cities. Yet there has been growing concern about their utility for cities of the Global South, a concern fuel led by the paucity of studies, including scientific peer reviewed and gray literature. In this paper, we contribute to this knowledge gap, based on an analysis of 120 case studies of NBS in Global South cities, documented in two databases (Urban Natural Atlas and Oppla). These cases fall largely under categories of blue and green infrastructure, with a few cases also focusing on grey infrastructure (in buildings or campuses). While most cases are in Asia, several have also been documented in Africa and Central/​South America. Two-third of documented NBS cases are aligned towards either national, or lower-level (regional and local) policies indicating the importance of policy mechanisms for driving their implementation. Institutional arrangements are usually non-government, government or collaborative arrangements, with the goal of climate resilience, biodiversity support and ecosystem restoration — along with social goals of creating public spaces. However, when private players take on the mandate for NBS, they focus primarily on grey infrastructure (in buildings and campuses), primarily meant for private or employee benefits,and not for the public. In cases where public engagement is a stated priority, we find tokenistic approaches deployed, primarily seeking engagement through information dissemination and consultation predominate. Despite the stated importance for participation and engagement, only a few cases focused on empowerment and co-creation of NBS with local communities. We suggest that there is a greater need for documentation regarding the modes of participation especially on roles and levels of actors involved, to enrich our understanding of the impact of NBS on values of justice and equity in the cities of the global South.

This is a dialogue and reflection about fieldwork, laughter, and decolonising methodology. Is there a time to laugh? How and why should researchers laugh? By focusing on the Naga people in Northeast India, an Indigenous community with a deep history of militarisation, this dialogue draws our attention to the meaning of laughter, fellowship, and emotional connections. An Indigenous Naga anthropologist in conversation with an ecologist, this dialogue dwells on the meaning of laughter as sharing an experience of fellowship together. Social science methodologies are often structured on examinations, investigations interviews, fieldnotes, and observations. This dialogue opens a space to reflect on fieldwork, research, and decolonisation. Laughter, as this dialogue highlights, is about affection, solidarity, and collective vision. For any long-term relationship that one seeks to establish as a researcher, acknowledging and respecting the history of the land, adopting a community-approach, and mentoring Indigenous local scholars to lead the research among their respective communities are important steps towards decoloniality.

Graphical literacy or graphicacy is a critical component of scientific literacy. Graphs are used to integrate and represent complex sets of information requiring abstraction from perceptual experience. They form essential parts of the Mathematics and Science curriculum across school curricular stages. A key to developing meaningful pedagogic practices to inculcate graphical literacy is in understanding how students perceive and comprehend features of graphs and interpret them. This study attempts to understand how children from the primary, middle and high school years, perceive and interpret information in bar and line graphs. Two hundred and twenty-nine children from four different school contexts in Grades V, VII and IX were administered questionnaires and interviewed based on tasks requiring comprehension of graphs. It was found that children’s understanding of graphs was tied to the curricular progression which was significant at Grades V and IX. Comprehension of bar graphs with nominal data was easier compared to line graphs requiring integration of information from two dimensions and interpreting them. Further, graphs requiring preliminary levels of statistical understanding were easier to comprehend. While prior experience and facility with graphical conventions played a role, interpretation from spatial to symbolic representations posed challenges. Students did not have a clear preferred strategy or a linear comprehension trajectory, but moved back and forth between conventions, clustering of graphical elements and written content in questions, to make meaning. Those who had performed well used various perceptual strategies simultaneously. Further, they were found to employ transformational reasoning based on a sense of ​‘how things work’. It was observed that meaningful pedagogic practices at school and informal experiences outside the classroom aid graphical literacy.

Authors

Sindhu Mathai, Parvathi Krishnan, and Jaya Sreevalsan-Nair