Creating and Interpreting Line, Bar and Cumulative Graphs

Instructions

In order to answer the essay question at the end of this page, your task is three fold:

• Read the "Celeste" case scenario (below)
• Create graphs: Plot the data as indicated in the three formats described below
• Answer the corresponding essay questions -HINT: The case scenario will set the context for you, and the graphs will help you answer the questions...

Note:

Case Scenario

Celeste is a new student in your preschool. As a result of interviews with her parents, you learn that Celeste is just beginning to learn the letters of the alphabet but is having some difficulty. You conduct an assessment to see if her difficulty in learning is a result of skill deficits or motivation deficits. You learn that she has the skills and capacity to learn but is not interested in or motivated by material. You decide that learning her letters (correct responding) would be a good pre-reading goal for her IEP. You decide to use a differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (i.e., compliance) intervention to try and teach Celeste her letters. First, you conduct a preference assessment and identify stickers as a highly preferred item. You decide to give Celeste one sticker following each letter learned. After two weeks of intervention, during which you collect data over ten weekdays (see below), you feel that Celeste has learned some of the letters of the alphabet very quickly, but feel as though she might have hit a plateau the past few days. You decide to graph her progress in a few different ways so that you can see at a glance the number of letters Celeste has learned. Each type of graph you have in mind might give you a different picture. You think a simple line graph will show level, trend and variability; a cumulative record will tell you about rate of learning, how many TOTAL letters Celeste has learned, and possibly the plateau in question; and a bar graph a big picture of weekly averages.

The data are as follows:

Day	# of Letters Learned on this day
1	2
2	2
3	1
4	2
5	1
6	1
7	2
8	0
9	0
10	0

Create Graphs

Part 1: Instructions:

First, you will be creating aline graph of the number of letters Celeste has learned. To edit this chart,right-click on the chart and selectChart Object Open. In column A, enter a label for your data series in the top cell. Then, enter the data just as it appears in the table above. Be sure to edit thechart title,X-axis label andY-axis label. Alternately, you may use Excel, or you can draw the graph by hand and fax it to your instructor. Be sure to includetitle andaxis labels.

Part 2: Instructions:

Now you will be create acumulative record of the number of letters that Celeste has learned. First, fill in the third column of the table below with cumulative data. Next, you will create the cumulative graph by graphing ONLY the 3^rd column. We have prepared a chart (below) for you to use for this exercise. Follow the same general instructions as in Part 1, and be sure to add appropriate titles and labels. Alternately, you may use Excel, or you can draw the graph by hand and fax it to your instructor. Be sure to include title and axis labels.

Day	# of Letters Learned on this day	Cumulative # of letters learned
1	2
2	2
3	1
4	2
5	1
6	1
7	2
8	0
9	0
10	0

Part 3: Instructions:

Now you will create a bar graph from the same data. First, fill in the third column of the table below with the mean data. Notice there are only two really big cells to fill in. This is because bar graphs use summary data and do not have distinct data points showing trend over time. Think of a bar graph as an entire line graph collapsed into big, averaged data points. Now, create the bar graph. We have prepared a chart (below) for you to use for this exercise. To edit this chart,right-click on the chart and selectChart Object Open. In column A, enter the averaged data. Alternately, you may use Excel, or you can draw the graph by hand and fax it to your instructor. Be sure to include title and axis labels.

Day	# of Letters Learned on this day	Average number of responses per time period
1	2
2	2
3	1
4	2
5	1
6	1
7	2
8	0
9	0
10	0