The amount of information available to students can be overwhelming at times. The things they learn from their teacher, from other students, from texts, and from the Internet can make a student feel frustrated and defeated. Teaching students how to visually represent and make sense of all this information could aid their efforts to comprehend and retain the material they collect. In fact, 65% of the population are visual learners (Fanguy, 2017, para. 5). So, it would only make sense that teachers equip students with the skills that will enhance their ability to visually represent information and data.
After reading several articles and being an experienced classroom teacher myself, I have come up with four steps to help students develop the ability to visually represent information and data. This is not something you would do one time with your students, but rather multiple times throughout the school year. You could easily apply this information to any subject area. The gradual release of responsibility would be a good model to fit this task.
- Teach and introduce what an infographic is and what it consists of. Before students can be expected to create a visual representation, they need to understand what it is. I would suggest having them research this information and collect the data on their own at first. This would be a great opportunity to incorporate a custom Google search engine to direct their research. In addition, it would be a good idea to supply students with a graphic organizer that guides them in their thinking as they are sifting through all this information. This will keep them focused.
- Next, have students evaluate already made infographics and reflect on them. Gretter, 2015, suggests, “Some questions to ask students to help them reflect on specific infographics:
- Why is this infographic useful to me?
- What is the purpose of the visuals (charts, maps, drawings, etc) in this document?
- Is the text important for me to understand this infographic? Why?
- How can I evaluate this infographic? What does it do well? Where could it be improved?
- What information am I learning thanks to this infographic?
- Is this infographic helping me learn? How? Why?” (para. 10).
- Then, have students create an infographic as a group or with a partner. Here they would apply all the information they have learned about infographics while getting the benefits of collaborating and learning from each other. I would have them explain why they did what they did at each step to each other. When students talk and listen to each other’s point of of view they are actively participating in the learning process (Boundless, 2016, para. 14). Students can learn so much from each other and be more willing to take risks.
- Last, have students create an infographic on their own. I could foresee using this as a way for students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept you have taught. Especially at the beginning, I would give students a topic they are comfortable with. For example, I created a unit on plot, and I am going have my students create an infographic in which they demonstrate their understanding of all the plot elements.
As teachers of 21st century learners, we can not overlook the importance of being able to visually represent information. Our students are so inundated with an overabundance of information that we need to supply them with the means to make sense of it all. Creating a visual representation is an excellent way to accomplish this. Boundless, 2016, states, “By representing information spatially and with images, students are able to focus on meaning, reorganize and group similar ideas easily, make better use of their visual memory” (para. 5).
References:
B. (2016, September 10). Effective Teaching Strategies - Boundless Open Textbook. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from https://www.boundless.com/education/textbooks/boundless-education-textbook/working-with-students-4/teaching-strategies-21/effective-teaching-strategies-64-12994/
Fanguy, W. (2017, March 26). Using Infographics in the Classroom: Our Tips and Advice. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from https://piktochart.com/blog/using-infographics-classroom/
Gretter, S. (2015, November 10). Using Infographics for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from http://insideteaching.grad.msu.edu/using-infographics-for-teaching-and-learning/
