WEEK 11 – “Information graphics: graphs in exam”

I love tables and graphs. I’d go ecstatic to see tables and graphs in quizzes, tests – especially in the exams – during my school days. For me, if that question came out – let it be Mathematics, Geography, Sciences or even English – it will be a “Free marks all over again” chance for me. You often hear teachers say “Tables and graphs are the easiest section in the exam. They are free marks – all the answers are in there. All you need to do is just extract the information out.” (But, of course it does not necessarily applicable to some).

These tables and graphs are part of what in professional media and communication categorized as “Information graphics”.

According to Petterson, information graphics are informative and may be entertaining and attention-getters as they aid communication by enabling better understanding and comprehension; improving readability and increase retention in a way that they “provide the reader with a rapid and easily grasped overall view of a message and are therefore highly suitable as an introduction to and summary of a subject” (1993, p. 173). Previously, information graphics were a product of hands but with today’s advancement in technologies, information graphics nowadays are computers-generated (Petterson, 1993, p. 173).

Why do teachers have to make their table and graphs as plain and as simple as possible?



The reason is rather obvious: i) so the graphs are readable, and ii) the students are able to extract the information quickly, and iii) they will not waste any time answering in the exam, and iv) they can score high marks.

What would happen if the exam questions appear as the following?







Though, they appear visually attractive – but these are not what you will normally see in any academic context.

This gives another reason why academic tables and graphs are, though simple, but is made dull: the context that the graphs appear in does not allow it to happen: i) Schools have their own regulation and guideline of how academic graphs should look like. Students grasped these knowledge and anything beyond these may cause confusion, ii) Schools are portray as a formal and serious place of studying, anything informal or considered as “not serious” (for example comical graphs) may be considered as a “distraction”.

In the world beyond academic environment, any errors and visual distortion to the information graphics are not prohibited. This is because, according to Tufte (cited in Lester 1995), a high-quality infographic should:
1) have an important message to communicate,
2) Convey information in a clear, precise and efficient manner
3) Never insult the intelligence of readers or viewers, and
4) Always tell the truth
(p. 208)

If we apply it to the academic world: is it allowable to distort any information given in the graphs? The answer is: yes and no. Yes, because the exams are allowed to give false information to the students so as to get whatever answer that the exam wanted. No, because, again, too many distortions may create “confusion”, resulting in students inability to answer the exam questions.


References:

Lester, M. (1995). Informational graphics. Visual communication: Images with messages (pp. 187-211). California: Wadsworth Publishing.
Petterson, R. (1993). Visual inromation (2nd ed.) (pp. 167-175). New Jersey: Eductional Technology Publications.