This paper demonstrates a dynamic, collaborative, and dialogic strategy for guiding students (and experienced researcher teams) through rudimentary forms of visual analysis using draw-and-write datasets. The approach identifies five sequential stages of the visual analysis process and further delineates twenty activities therein. Akin to the…

This paper presents a new theoretical model of creative imagination and its applications in early education. The model sees creative imagination as composed of three inter-related components: vividness of images, their originality, and the level of transformation of imageries. We explore the theoretical and practical consequences of this new…

Picture books are often seen as a valuable tool for younger readers. In this article, the author suggests that the multiple literacies required to read a picture book can provide scaffolding and transmission of additional concepts for older readers.

Training over a 6-month period in which a moderately retarded 10-year-old was asked to direct his attention to simulus properties on a visual level resulted in significant improvement in concept development, social comprehension, and understanding of instructions. (CL)

This article discusses the increasing incidence of cortical visual impairments, resulting from medical advancements making possible the survival of critically ill children with severe brain damage. Discussed are the prevalence of multiple handicaps, formation of visual concepts, foreground/background distinction, potential for mainstreaming, use…

Many have tried to define the concept of visual literacy (VL), but so far there is no consensus. Reviews the literature to develop a definition of VL and explores the parameters of VL, the movement and its aims, its educational significance, and the potential benefits of teaching VL. (PEN)

Steve Garnett, a senior teacher in charge of Teaching and Learning at Garibaldi College of Maths and Computing in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, shares some of the techniques that he uses to involve different kinds of learners in his post-16 lessons, and explains how he arrived at these approaches after reflecting on problems in his own early…

Describes the Agam program, a 36-unit curriculum program to introduce students to basic visual concepts and that applies visual abilities and visual thinking to learning tasks. Describes two units at the third grade level, "Ratio and Proportion" and "Numerical Intuition," and makes observations of the students' learning. (MDH)

A review of literature on the use of wordless picture books to develop language skills is presented as background for the relatively brief description of a project in which wordless picture books were used with Latino children. The project is a collaborative one between Bloomsburg University, Kutztown University, and Thomas Ford Elementary School…

Describes several activities used to teach students from middle school age to college nonmajors about the nature of matter, atoms, molecules and the periodic table. Strategies integrate such approaches as hands-on activities, visualization, writing, demonstrations, role play, and guided inquiry. For example, the periodic table is viewed as a town…

This study reports the efforts of the Water and Molecular Networks Project (WAMNet), a program in which high school chemistry students use computer simulations developed at Boston University (Massachusetts) to model the three-dimensional structure of molecules and the hydrogen bond network that holds water molecules together. This case study…