The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the science activities supported by the Web 2.0 tools at the 7th-grade secondary school level had an impact on the students' academic achievement, visual literacy level and spatial visualization skills. The study was designed in accordance with the nonequivalent control group design. The study…

Visual literacy, which is the ability to effectively identify, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media, is an important aspect of science literacy. As molecular processes are not directly observable, researchers and educators rely on visual representations (e.g., drawings) to communicate ideas in biology. How learners…

In education, infographics may be used to promote active learning and engage learners in the creation of more diverse learning artefacts. This study aims to analyze the application of infographics in higher education. The authors conducted a scoping review of the scientific articles to analyze the use of infographics across a variety of university…

Visual representations are essential for science understanding, but many students have poor diagrammatic reasoning skills. Previous research showed that teaching high school and college students about the conventions of diagrams (COD) can improve diagrammatic reasoning. In this study, middle school science students received COD instruction…

Data visualizations are now commonplace in the public media. The ability to interpret and create such visualizations, as a form of data literacy, is increasingly important for democratic participation. Yet, the cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills needed to produce and use data visualizations and to develop data literacy are not fluidly…

In this article, director of Educational Outreach at the Library of Congress Lee Ann Potter describes a classroom activity that focuses on an 1876 single-page circular published in Salem, Massachusetts about Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech. A. M. Bell's son, Alexander Graham Bell described "Visible Speech" as "a…

This paper suggests how the "weird fiction" of H.P. Lovecraft might be mobilised within secondary English classrooms to examine aspects of visual literacy, literary style, narrative form and intertextuality. The approach that is outlined is characterised, after Lovecraft's famous monster, as a "Cthulhuic literacy" and is…

Explicit pedagogy that focuses on visual design and composition principles can affect students' responses to and understanding, interpretation and analysis of images, as well as the creation of their own visual representations. This article considers the why, the what, and the how of teaching various visual elements of art and design to students…

During a 10-week classroom-based study, 20 fourth grade students participated in a number of interdependent activities that focused on developing their visual meaning-making skills and competencies. As well as reading, responding in writing to and discussing a selection of picturebooks, graphic novels, and magazines, the students created graphic…

From the moment sighted children see their first dot, teachers find that they are fascinated by the braille code. If they are fortunate enough to have a classmate who reads braille, they have daily opportunities to observe braille used for a variety of purposes, from reading chapter books to solving problems with tactile graphics. Teachers of…

Art-viewing experiences are an important part of the knowledge-building process and require careful planning and unique teaching strategies. One teaching strategy involves an activity most young children enjoy--playing games. In this article, the author explains ways to use games and conversations to introduce visual artworks to young children.…

Picturebooks tell stories in both words and pictures. Interacting with the printed word, the technical elements of illustration--color, line, shape and composition--work to establish and enhance the story. Sometimes simply by adding description of characters and setting, and, at times, by challenging the veracity of the text with ironic or…

Educators at elementary, middle, and high school levels will find that integrating digital tools and resources--many commonly used by students in their "out of school" lives--can be a springboard to creativity and new skills. In this article, the author describes how word processors, presentation software and hardware, mind-mapping applications,…

Pacey, a likable and literate eighth-grader, saw school as "a place that kills your reading." With this alarming condemnation in mind, the author uses literacy narrative--a short, concise, digital video in which students meld still images, motion, print text, and soundtrack (both narration and music) in communicating ideas/insights/discoveries…

Objective: Students will identify several unique characteristics of verbal vs. visual messages, including the superior ability of language to communicate objective, factual, philosophical content in past, present, and future terms; and the superior ability of visual images to communicate social-emotional meaning and concrete information limited in…