Investigating a Digital Annotation Tool for Distinguishing Visual Evidence in Science Inquiry

Abstract

Learning to engage with scientific evidence is challenging: Even as students struggle to make sense of complex content, they must learn complex inquiry skills, such as recognizing and distinguishing relevant information, articulating interpretations, and using evidence to construct arguments. We describe the Image Annotator, a web-based, curriculum-integrated tool designed to support students engaging with scientific evidence. The Annotator provides a point-and-click, drag-and-drop interface for students to create labels on image-based artifacts. Embedded in an online learning environment, the contents, positions, and time-stamped revisions of students’ labels, are logged. In three classroom-based studies, we explore the affordances of the Annotator for supporting engagement with visual evidence, informing curriculum revisions, and researching how students interpret and use visual evidence in explanations.