Review of "Graph Master"

Throughout my math career I have used many different types of software to promote learning. For this posting I decided to search for software that could have been beneficial to my practicum students last year since they are the only kids I’ve worked with so far. Also I wanted a find a program that I can hopefully use later in my teaching career.

I found a software program called “Graph Master” which is created by the Tom Snyder Productions Company which is part of Scholastic. As the title suggests, this software helps students with graphing different data sets and being able to manipulate the data in ways they could not do easily by hand. In our world today, the ability to interpret a graph is very important not to mention a big SOL for middle schoolers. Graph Master is designed for grades 4 – 8 and lets teachers the features as a way to build conceptual learning with real world applications.

The software includes nine different graph types that the students can use to display and manipulate their data. The graphs range from the simple bar graph to the more complicated box-and-whisker plots. It also gives student the chance to conduct research on their own and gather data to put into the program. Graph Master has a section where students can enter their own data into a chart and then choose which graph they feel best fits their data. Once the graph has been entered, students will also be able to label their graph and have a chance to interpret what the graph means. This is a huge part of the SOLs and being able to work with graphs in this manner would be extremely reinforcing to the student. Not only are they getting to play on computer but they are also learning in the process. There is also a section with pre-made data for the students to work with. There are ten different ready-made sets on various topics that the students can use. Having the data sets already made would save time and would be a better opportunity for the students to interpret the meaning. If they are the ones creating the data and graph, they will already have somewhat of an idea about what it means. Graph Master also has features that allow the student to manipulate the data by finding the mean, median, mode, range, sorting data, and create formulas for the data sets. These calculations are fundamental to math and the students need to understand how to find them. There is also a feature called ‘notebook’ where the students can compare data sets and graphs right on the computer screen. Part of the SOLs is for students to analyze and interpret graphs so having an area to express their thoughts is a good idea. Some other features include an online glossary that explains the terms used and how to analysis data, cross-curricular activities that are aligned with the NCTM standards, and a place to print the graphs created. Being able to print the graph would be a fun way for the students to present their findings with the data. Graphs can be easily incorporated into presentations this way.

I could not find an online demo of this program to play around with but there is a video on the website that goes through the features step by step and shows what the students are looking at as they go along. At the end of the video it says that the company offers a free demo for teachers and even parents to try out to see if they like the program. I might consider getting the demo just to see for myself if this software is something I would like to use one day with my own students if I decide to teach middle school. The program is a little pricey and probably is not something an individual teacher would want to buy for her classroom. Just to have the software on one computer would cost $79. However, the school could pay to put the program in one of the computer labs for the students to use for a better deal. I feel this program would be a good thing for a middle school or elementary school to have access too because of all the different features it lets the students do with graphing. Teachers can break the activities up and just have the students do certain functions on different days until the unit is complete. This program made me think about my practicum last semester. As I worked with my sixth grade class, I noticed several of them had trouble with creating and interpreting graphs during the statistics unit. I think if the students had the opportunity to work with the material visually on a computer they would have been able to understand the math behind the concept better. Being able to play on the computer while learning about graphing would be a good idea since these students would always get excited when my host teacher would plan computer lab activities. This would have let the students get a hands-on interactive experience working with graphs and hopefully be able to develop a better understanding of the concepts.