Experiential Learning with 3D Graphics
Graphics Group Presentation
2023-11-30
Inspiration
Cleveland and McGill (1984) conducted studies on elementary perceptual tasks (EPTs).
- Basic building blocks of how people extract quantitative information from graphs.
Inspiration
The experiments that Cleveland and McGill conducted focused on position, length, and angle.
Participants had to estimate the ratio between two measurements (10 ratios per graph).
Accuracy: Position > Length > Angle
Inspiration
The theory for volume comparisons was ranked low by Cleveland and McGill. Several studies show that people make less accurate judgments using 3D graphs than 2D graphs (Barfield and Robless 1989; Zacks et al. 1998).
These studies focus on the projection of 3D graphs on 2D surfaces!
What would happen if we use true 3D dimensional graphs?
Designing a study
Partially replicate Cleveland and McGill using similar graphs and ratio comparisons.
- Ratios (7 unique ratios)
- Graph type (2D / 3D interactive / 3D printed)
- Comparisons adjacent or separated (Type 1 / 3)
- 42 unique treatment combinations
Results from pilot study
Sample size of around 40 participants, consisting of members of the UNL department of statistics and their adult roommates.
- Response: \(\log_2(|\text{Observed}-\text{Actual}| + 1/8)\)
- Nothing significant!
Pre-Experiment Question
- In this class, you’ll be learning about the process of scientific investigation. What do you think that process looks like, from the perspective of a researcher, compared to what it looks like from the perspective of someone in the general public who is a consumer of scientific results? Write a paragraph (at least 3-5 sentences) about how you think science happens.
Post-Experiment Responses
What do you think the purpose of the experiment was?
“To see how well we identified the larger bar and how well we could guess the proportion.”
“They could be trying to determine how different genders, ages, etc. perceive the sizes of the bars in the graph. Demographics could make a pretty significant difference.”
“I think the purpose of the experiment was to compare how the general public reads and interprets graphs in different formats compared to scientists, and how they analyze experiments.”
Post-Experiment Responses
What elements of experimental design, such as randomization or the use of a control group, do you think were present in the experiment?
“Sex and race of the participants is random as it is unknown by the researcher. Because the researcher does not know who of the stats students will take the extra credit.”
“I feel like all the same graphs were used for everybody. Since there weren’t very many, this could have possibly created unnecessary outliers.”
Abstract Reflection
What components of the experiment are clearer now than they were as a participant? What questions do you still have for the experimenter? Write 3-5 sentences reflecting on the abstract.
- “The entire purpose of the experiment makes a lot more sense now that I’ve read the abstract. I don’t have a math brain, so it never occurred to me that the different types of bar graphs could cause people to interpret results differently. It’s amazing to me how differently I see the study with the end goal in mind. I would really struggle to understand the results because the equations they used in the abstract don’t mean anything to me, so I would ask about that if I could.”
Presentation Responses
How did the information you gained from the components of this project differ?
“While actively participating in the study, I had some doubts about the purpose of the experiment and thought that it was kind of a waste of time. After reading the abstract and watching the presentation, I have a new found respect for the purpose and reasoning behind the design of the experiment.”
“The information gained progressively became more interactive and communicative of the study and what the purpose of it was.”
References
