Iris Tabak

Do life circumstances introduce opportunities to learn? COVID-19 created a public need for information on the epidemiological developments of this pandemic, resulting in an upsurge in graphical representations in the media. Using a survey, we examine whether, in the wake of COVID-19, people make greater use of data representations, and whether this relates to their confidence in interpreting these representations. We also evaluate their graph interpretation skills. To understand the role of rudimentary education in this process, we report on participants with 12 or less years of education. We found that people mostly increased their use of graphs, and that this explains an increase in their confidence to interpret graphs. People with stronger skills had a higher increase in graph use. People with weaker skills, also increased, rather than avoided, graph use. Life experiences can prompt change and growth, and the media landscape can play a role in this process.