Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning.docx
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Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning.docx
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VisualLiteracyinTeachingandLearning
VisualLiteracyinTeachingandLearning:
ALiteraturePerspective
SuzanneStokes
TroyStateUniversity
Abstract
Researchreportedineducationalliteraturesuggeststhatusingvisualsinteachingresultsinagreaterdegreeoflearning.Thebasicpremiseofthisbodyofresearchistheconceptofvisualliteracy,definedastheabilitytointerpretimagesaswellastogenerateimagesforcommunicatingideasandconcepts.Thispaperprovidesanintroductiontovisualliteracyandincludesareviewofstudiesthatinvestigatetheeffectsofinstructionthatincorporatesvaryingdegreesofvisualcomponentsincludingnovisualsupport,stillvisualaids,andanimatedvisualsequences.Thepurposeofthisliteraturereviewistostimulateinterestinusingvisualenhancementsinteachingandtopromotethedevelopmentoflearners’visualskillsincombinationwiththeirdevelopmentofverbal,reading,andmathematicalskills.
DuringarehearsalofDebussy'sLaMer,Toscaninifoundhimselfunabletodescribetheeffecthehopedtoachievefromaparticularpassage.Afteramoment'sthought,hetookasilkhandkerchieffromhispocketandtossedithighintotheair.Theorchestra,mesmerized,watchedtheslow,gracefuldescentofthesilkensquare.Toscaninismiledwithsatisfactionasitfinallysettledonthefloor.“There,”hesaid,“playitlikethat”(Fadiman,1985,p.548).
VisualLiteracyfromaHistoricalPerspective
Thepresenceofvisualelementsintoday’steachingandlearningisincreasingastheintegrationofimagesandvisualpresentationswithtextintextbooks,instructionalmanuals,classroompresentations,andcomputerinterfacesbroadens(Benson,1997;Branton,1999;DwyerascitedinKleinman&Dwyer,1999).Althoughtheeducationalcommunityisembracingvisualenhancementsininstruction,theconnectionofvisualandverbalinformationisevidentthroughouthistory.AccordingtothepoetSimonides,“Wordsaretheimagesofthings”(ascitedinBenson,p.141);similarly,Aristotlestatedthat,“withoutimage,thinkingisimpossible”(ascitedinBenson,p.141).Charactersinalphabetsbeganaspictureswithmeaning(West,1997).Thesesymbolsportrayaman-madelanguagewithnodistinctionbetweenwordsandpictures,justasmusicalnotesconveythelanguageofmusic.Onlyaftertheprintingpresswasinventedwereillustrationsandtypeseparated,withillustrationsoftenfallingbythewayside.Recenthistoryshowsareversalinthisseparationwithgreaterrelianceonvisuallyorientedapproachestoinformationpresentation.Theresultsareleadingtoavisualizationmovementinmoderncomputingwherebycomplexcomputationsarepresentedgraphically,allowingfordeeperinsightsaswellasheightenedabilitiestocommunicatedataandconcepts.Visualizationhelpsmakesenseofdatathatmayhaveseemedpreviouslyunintelligible.LeonardodaVinci,inrecognizingtheimpossibilityofrecordingvolumesofdata,translatedwordsintodrawingsfromdifferentaspects.Ashistoryrepeatsitself,wemayfindthatagreatdealofinformationisbetterpresentedvisuallyratherthanverbally.
Aculture'spredominantmodeofliteracydependsonthetechnologyandmassmediaitembraces(Sinatra,1986).Ineducation'scontinuingmissionofmeetingtheneedsoflearners,anapparentshiftfromthelong-standingprocessofreading,writing,counting,andtextmemorizationskillsthatmayhavebeenappropriateforthemedievalclerk,aregivingwaytoskillsofanalysisandinnovationthatareconsidereddesirableintoday’smoderncultures(West,1997).Proficiencywithwordsandnumbersisinsufficientandmustbesupplementedwithadditionalbasicskillsasnewandemergingtechnologiespermeateactivitiesofdailyliving.Viewingchangewithfearandskepticismoftenaccompaniesshiftssuchasthesethatcanrevolutionizesociety.EvenSocratesportrayedthenewtechnologyofthewrittenwordasdangerousanddestructive,artificialandrigid,andunresponsiveandinsensitive.Asmorevisualelementsareincorporatedtoachieveanoptimalbalancebetweenverbalandvisualcuesineducation,interdependencebetweenthetwomodesofthoughtwillbefostered.Kellner(1998)proposesthatmultipleliteraciesarenecessarytomeetthechallengesoftoday'ssociety,literaciesthatincludeprintliteracy,visualliteracy,auralliteracy,medialiteracy,computerliteracy,culturalliteracy,socialliteracy,andecoliteracy.
LearnerDifferences
Learningthroughorderly,sequential,verbal-mathematical,left-hemispheretasksisapatternseenfrequentlyineducation(West,1997).Thosewhosethoughtprocessesarepredominantlyintheright-hemispherewherevisual-spatialandnonverbalcognitionactivitiesrulefrequentlymayhavedifficultycapitalizingonalearningstylethatisnotcompatiblewiththeirabilities.LiuandGinther(1999,Introductionsection,p.2)definecognitive/learningstyleas“theindividual'sconsistentandcharacteristicpredispositionsofperceiving,remembering,organizing,processing,thinking,andproblemsolving”andnotethatcognitive/learningstyleisanimportantfactorinindividualstudentdifferences.Instructionalmaterialsaswellasteachingstylesshouldbematchedwithcognitivestylesforgreatestlearnerbenefits.However,theextenttowhichindividualsarepolarizedintheirbrain'sabilitiestodealwithverbalandvisualmodesofthoughtisnotfullyunderstood,althoughitisrareforindividualstodealequallyeffectivelyinbothmodes(West).Mostpeoplehaveatendencytothinkinwordsratherthaninpictures,yettheuseofvisualizationinthinkingappearstobeincreasing.TuckeyandSelvaratnam(ascitedinChanlin,1999)proposethatmostvisualizationskillscanbedevelopedbypractice.Evenso,bothCate(ascitedinChanlin,1997)andRichardson(ascitedinChanlin,1997)emphasizethatstudentswithlimiteddomainknowledgemayregardgraphicsasexcesscomplexitiesandincomprehensibleinformationiftheconnectionswiththeconceptsarenotobvioustothem.Anadditionalvariationinlearnersispresentinthosewhomayhavedifficultywithcomprehendingthespokenorwrittenlanguage,particularlythosewithlanguagebarriers,learningdisabilities,andhearingdisorders(Flattley,1998).
VisualLiteracyDefined
Wileman(1993)definesvisualliteracyas“theabilityto‘read,’interpret,andunderstandinformationpresentedinpictorialorgraphicimages”(p.114).Associatedwithvisualliteracyisvisualthinking,describedas“theabilitytoturninformationofalltypesintopictures,graphics,orformsthathelpcommunicatetheinformation”(Wileman,p.114).Asimilardefinitionforvisualliteracyis“thelearnedabilitytointerpretvisualmessagesaccuratelyandtocreatesuchmessages”(Heinich,Molenda,Russell,&Smaldino,1999,p.64).TheERICdefinitionofvisualliteracyis“agroupofcompetenciesthatallowshumanstodiscriminateandinterpretthevisibleaction,objects,and/orsymbols,naturalorconstructed,thattheyencounterintheenvironment”(http:
//searcheric.org/).Robinson(asquotedinSinatra,1986)describesvisualliteracyas“anorganizingforceinpromotingunderstanding,retention,andrecallofsomanyacademicconceptswithwhichstudentsmustcontend”(p.v).Andlastly,Sinatradefinesvisualliteracyas“theactivereconstructionofpastvisualexperiencewithincomingvisualmessagestoobtainmeaning”(p.5),withtheemphasisontheactionbythelearnertocreaterecognition.
Theuseandinterpretationofimagesisaspecificlanguageinthesensethatimagesareusedtocommunicatemessagesthatmustbedecodedinordertohavemeaning(Branton,1999;Emery&Flood,1998).Ifvisualliteracyisregardedasalanguage,thenthereisaneedtoknowhowtocommunicateusingthislanguage,whichincludesbeingalerttovisualmessagesandcriticallyreadingorviewingimagesasthelanguageofthemessages.Visualliteracy,likelanguageliteracy,isculturallyspecificalthoughthereareuniversalsymbolsorvisualimagesthataregloballyunderstood.
VisualLiteracyandInstructionalTechnology
Branton(1999,Abstractsection,p.1)proposesthequestions,“DoestechnologynecessitatetheneedforVisualLiteracyskills?
CanthissametechnologybeusedtoenhanceourVisualLiteracyskills?
”Brantonlinksvisualliteracywithconstructivistlearningthroughtheroleofeachinacquiringknowledgeintheinformationage.TheERICdefinitionofvisualliteracygivenaboveandtheERICdefinitionofconstructivismlearningasa“viewpointinlearningtheorywhichholdsthatindividualsacquireknowledgebybuildingitfrominnatecapabilitiesinteractingwiththeenvironment”(http:
//searcheric.org/)aremergedbyBrantonassheexploresthepossibilitythatthevisualartstaughtinaconstructivistlearningenvironmentcanenhancevisualliteracyskills.Technology,particularlythegraphicaluserinterfaceoftheWorldWideWeb,requiresskillsforreadingandwritingvisuallyinordertoderivemeaningfromwhatisbeingcommunicated.
Twomajorapproacheshavebeensuggestedfordevelopingvisualliteracyskills(Heinichetal.,1999).Thefirstistohelplearnersreadordecodevisualsthroughpracticinganalysistechniques.Decodinginvolvesinterpretingandcreatingmeaningfromvisualstimuli.Thesecondistohelplearnerswriteorencodevisualsasatoolforcommunication.Studentsdeveloptheirvisualabilitiesthroughuse.Sinatra(1986)comparesthecreationofvisualmessagestowritingwordmessages,inthatvisualmessageshaveacombinationofobjects,space,light,angle,andmoodtosuggestaparticularmessageoreffectjustasthewriteruseswords,sentences,andparagraphstoachieveaparticularstyl
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