Improving student comprehension through interactive model visualization

A large literature has shown that novices and experts across the STEM disciplines differ markedly in how they approach and solve problems. Many STEM education scholars find that giving students scaffolded exercises in which they work with a visualization tool can be highly effective in teaching novices to think more like experts. Using model visualization software developed for EconGraphs, we have created three custom collections of interactive exercises for use in microeconomics courses at three institutions, two in the US and one in the UK. Based on surveys of the students (n=71, 167, and 57 respectively at the three institutions), students found the new exercises helpful. Additional analysis at two of the institutions suggests that the exercises were more likely to be valued by students with weaker math skills, students with weaker introductory microeconomics skills, and, in some cases, students who agreed that economics was interesting and applicable to their daily lives. The contributions of this paper are to illustrate how the free content from EconGraphs and the associated authoring tools may be used to create exercises that enhance the teaching and learning experience at a range of institutions; to provide the exercises themselves as a public good; and to invite further innovation and investigation in this area.