From Table to Graph: Exploring Gifted Students’ Difficulties in Drawing Solubility Graphs

Abstract

This study aims to identify the specific difficulties gifted students encounter when constructing graphs related to the concept of solubility—a skill central to scientific thinking and data interpretation. A qualitative case study design, allowing for an in-depth examination of gifted students’ graph-drawing processes, was utilized. A total of 64 gifted middle school students were presented with tabulated data showing the solubility of five chemical compounds in water at various temperatures and were asked to draw corresponding solubility–temperature graphs. Students’ graphs were analyzed using the Temiz and Tan (2009) graph-drawing rubric, which consists of nine qualitative criteria addressing key components of graph construction. The analysis focused on identifying patterns, recurring errors, and qualitative characteristics of students’ graphing performances. The findings revealed that many gifted students struggled with key components of graph construction, particularly scaling and labeling the axes, accurately placing data points, and connecting them appropriately. Only a small percentage of students fully met all criteria, indicating that graphing difficulties persist even among high-ability learners. These results underscore the importance of explicitly teaching graphing skills, which are often overlooked in gifted education. The study contributes to the limited body of research on gifted students’ graphical representational skills, specifically their ability to visually represent and organize scientific data through graphs, and provides insights for designing targeted instructional interventions to enhance their scientific process competencies.