Evaluating the Impact of a Constructivist Approach to Treemap Literacy

Firat, Elif E.; Srinivas, Chandana; Lang, Colm; Srinivas, Bhumika; Laramee, Robert S.; Joshi, Alark P.

Abstract

Constructivist learning is based on the principle that learners construct knowledge based on their prior knowledge and experiences. We explored the impact of a constructivist approach to introduce students to the Treemaps visualization technique. We developed software that helps students understand Treemaps using a synchronized, multiview, interactive node-link representation of the same data. While students in both groups—the ones who used the node-link diagram with the Treemaps and the ones who used only the interactive Treemaps—demonstrated significant improvement in learning, students who only interacted with the Treemaps representation performed better on a variety of tasks related to reading and interpreting Treemaps.

Citation

Firat, E. E., Srinivas, C., Lang, C., Srinivas, B., Laramee, R. S., & Joshi, A. P. (2024). Evaluating the Impact of a Constructivist Approach to Treemap Literacy. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 45(1), 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1109/mcg.2024.3475188

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 1, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Apr 14, 2025
• Publication Date: Apr 14, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 18, 2025
• Journal: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
• Print ISSN: 0272-1716
• Electronic ISSN: 1558-1756
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 139-147
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/mcg.2024.3475188
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/47944610
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10964422