A series of tests of dimensional understanding showed that there was a hierarchical sequence, with three year olds able to handle less complex tasks than four year olds. (Editor)

A Birmingham (England) Museum and Art Gallery program helped visitors view hidden objects in artworks and understand how museum representations depict and interpret culture. More informal learning opportunities were developed as a result of the program. (SK)

Addresses a "critical" or "reflective" visual literacy. Situates visual representations and their interpretation (the construction of meaning) within a context that raises questions about benefit and power. Explores four main topics: the image as text; analysis and meaning construction; visual literacy as a liberatory practice;…

Defines new literacies and explores their place in school curricula. Contends that what is missing is a method of reading and understanding the new languages of media that would enable educators to produce meaning that enhances lives and rejects the oppression that privileges some students and denies other students' voice. (PM)

Notes that new literacies use computer graphics to tell a story, demonstrate a theory, or support a definition. Offers a functionality framework for assessing the value of computer graphics for early literacy learning. Provides ideas for determining the value of CD-ROM software and websites. Concludes that graphics that give text meaning or…

Attempts to bring composition studies into a more thoroughgoing discussion of the place of visual literacy in the writing classroom. Argues that throughout the history of writing instruction in the United States the terms of debate typical in discussions of visual literacy and the teaching of writing have limited the kinds of assignments educators…

Discussion of visual media and television literacy focuses on a course that was developed to improve the visual literacy of 12- and 13-year-old students in the United Kingdom. Testing for the experimental and control groups is explained, and implications for the development of television literacy are suggested. (23 references) (LRW)

Argues that the use of visuals specifically designed to complement printed instruction can significantly improve student achievement of certain types of educational objectives, but that visualization itself represents only a mild rehearsal strategy which will not always optimize student achievement of the more complex levels of learning. (RS)

Discussion of visual literacy, visual cognition, visual thinking and learning, and visual knowledge focuses on women and gender differences. Topics addressed include educational equality and the visual, including equality versus difference; women and mass culture; difference and the design of visual instruction; and feminist education and the…

Describes how network television can be used to teach visual literacy in the composition classroom. Claims that television's "look" is pervasive and rhetorically powerful. Analyzes the program "Twin Peaks" as it relates to the medium's codes. Suggests how the program might be used to teach students about these codes. (HB)

Fifty-three deaf adults from Pune, India, rated the suitability of 12 professions for deaf, and for hearing people. Respondents' criteria for career choice appeared to be based on the need for hearing, speech, and visual skills. Although results generally supported findings in other countries, culturally specific factors appeared to play a role in…

Describes the collaborative listening-viewing guide, a lesson framework for promoting students' visual literacy. Notes that an important feature of the guide is the use of flexible grouping, where students are encouraged to share what they see and recall, to contribute their personal experiences, and to build more elaborated constructions of…

Reports on an investigation which utilized multidimensional scaling (MDS) of paired comparison judgments as a means of evaluating representations for moving image documents. Discusses implications of the findings for visual information retrieval and the development of digital video collections. (Author/AEF)

Discusses issues related to women's use of new communication technologies and, in particular, how women use personal images to connect with one another online. Offers a glossary and notes some listservs. Offers suggestions for further reading. (SR)

This is an ethnographic study of the literacy practices of a group of rural Northeastern Thai women participating in a community-based literacy programme. Field research for the study examined the women's literacy practices and domains of literacy use in daily life, and the strategies they used to negotiate day-to-day life tasks in the context of…