Samenvatting

Background: Concept diagrams are widely used as tools to enhance scientific reasoning in education. Tailoring the complexity of these diagrams to the cognitive development of students poses a challenge. An effective measure for diagram complexity is particularly important when these diagrams are deployed as an interactive teaching tool for scientific reasoning. Purpose: This study developed and validated a theory-informed model to quantify the complexity of concept diagrams. The focus is on understanding how diagram complexity is related to student engagement and learning, particularly in the context of primary education. Sample: The research involved 290 Dutch primary school students, aged 9–12 years, from the metropolitan region of Amsterdam, Netherlands. These students interacted with digital concept diagrams during science lessons, providing software log data for analysis. Methodology: A model was constructed based on various methods proposed in the literature to quantify the complexity of two distinct concept diagram formats. The hypothesized complexity, as determined by the model, was compared to observed student effort by analyzing software log data generated during the science lessons. Results: The results indicate sufficiently accurate estimates for determining diagram complexity. Comparing the hypothesized complexity with observed student effort validated the model’s effectiveness. Implications: The findings suggest that the model can be broadly applied to assess the complexity of newly constructed concept diagrams. However, some limitations of the model were identified. Refinements are discussed to further optimize the model’s accuracy and applicability.