Sunday, October 25, 2009

On a Chart Jag

(I may be due for a graph intervention.) But I recently ran across a site that is full of charts, graphs, tables and other visual stimuli to assault our understanding, and just asking to be debated. I find the examples most useful as opportunities to ask "so what?"

The first is actually a whole series of bar graphs comparing the United States to Russia. It is is on Mint.com. (But HT to Chartporn.) The Mint.com site also has similar comparisons with China and India at the bottom of the page.

The second has some real value for teaching personal finance. Specifically, if you teach about credit cards, this is a great illustration of all the steps involved in a credit transaction. (Note: I didn't say the sequence was correct. I would have made step 8 the first step and then proceeded. But we can debate another time.) Again, I found it on Chartporn.

While I don't endorse all the content on Chartporn, these examples are pretty good. Used judiciously by teachers who like want their students to dig a bit deeper, these charts can offer a good place to start.  What is your take on the site? I have temporarily added it to my link list. Should I keep it?

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