Using a Multi-step Research Approach to Inform the Development of a Graph Literacy Game

Abstract

Critical reading - the ability to critically evaluate information - has become a crucial skill in our modern information society and the rise of fake news. Games might be able to help to address this rather new field of education. Therefore, we first conducted a literature analysis on the use of games that aim at supporting critical reading and media literacy. We found that most of the used games improved participants’ critical reading skills, were mostly targeted at adults, and the games focused on written information and fake news, but omitted graph literacy. Next, we ran an empirical study to investigate adolescents’ competencies in critically reading and interpreting graphs. In a storified setting, adolescents acted as fact checkers and were supposed to interpret graphs and identify misleading graphs. Our results revealed that adolescents struggled in both the identification of misleading graphs as well as the interpretation of graphs. Consequently, based on our literature review and empirical results, we developed a game to support graph reading. The design of the game is presented.