The spatial contiguity principle in mathematics textbooks

Figures & data

Table 1. Exposition topics ordered by unit within chapters.

Units	Chapter
	1: Algebra 1	3: Trigonometry	4: Differentiation & Integration
1	Argument and Proof	Sine, cosine and tangent†	Differentiation from first principles†
2	Index laws	The sine and cosine rules†	Differentiating ${ax}^n$ and Leibniz notation
3	Surds		Rates of change
4	Quadratic functions†		Tangents and normals
5	Simultaneous equations		Turning points‡
6	Lines and circles‡		Integration
7	Inequalities‡		Area under a curve†

† identifies expositions with at least one diagram in the margin.‡ identifies expositions with all diagrams in the main text.

Figure 1. An exposition with a diagram in the main text (Jefferson et al., 2017, p. 106).

Figure 2. An exposition with diagrams in the margin (Jefferson et al., 2017, p. 16).

Table 2. Number of judges and judgements per group.

#Group	Number of participants		Total number # of judgements
	Total	Completed 15 comparisons
Students	125	60	900
Teachers	83	77	1155
Undergraduates	220	214	3210

^a The total participants includes those who did not complete the full 15 comparisons; students were more likely to stop before reaching this number. In the analysis, we only included participants who completed 15 comparisons.

Table 3. Reliability measures for each group.

Group	Number of # judgements	SSR	Mean IRR
			Standard	Adjusted
Students	900	.89	.79	.79
Teachers	1155	.75	.55	.47
Undergraduates	3210	.92	.83	.55

Figure 3. Correlations between exposition scores generated via comparative judgement by students, teachers and undergraduates.

Figure 4. Mean perceived exposition quality scores for expositions with diagrams in the text and in the margins.

Figure 5. The mean dwell time spent on diagrams in the text and in the margin; error bars show $\pm 1$ standard error of the mean.

Jefferson, B., Bowles, D., Mullan, E., Wiseman, G., Rayneau, J., Wood, K., & Wagner, R. (2017). AQA A level maths: year 1 + year 2 AQA A level maths: year 1 + year 2. Oxford University Press.

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