Visual literacy is essential for engineers. Technological professions have important visual characterization, both in the transmission of information and problem-solving. This means that future engineers must be proficient at communicating, thinking, and learning visually. However, engineering curricula takes partially the need to have visually…

In this photo elicitation assignment, each student must take, select, and interpret a picture about a social issue that he/she has learned about in class. The student must then craft either a sensory poem, or answer the SHOWeD questions as designed by Shaffer and modified by Wang, which facilitates the student's interpretation of the picture. As a…

The definition of visualization in engineering graphics has evolved over the years due in part to extensive research in visualization by the engineering design graphics profession. The literature indicates research in the areas of engineering graphics and the use of visualization has grown from improvement of visualization skills and the…

A thorough understanding of the molecular biosciences requires the ability to visualize and manipulate molecules in order to interpret results or to generate hypotheses. While many instructors in biochemistry and molecular biology use visual representations, few indicate that they explicitly teach visual literacy. One reason is the need for a list…

"Vision and Change" identifies science communication as one of the core competencies in undergraduate biology. Visual representations are an integral part of science communication, allowing ideas to be shared among and between scientists and the public. As such, development of scientific visual literacy should be a desired outcome of…

Visualization of chemical concepts can be challenging for many students. This is arguably a critical skill for beginning students of biochemistry to develop, since new information is often presented visually in the form of textbook figures. It is recommended that visual literacy be explicitly taught in the classroom rather than assuming that…

Despite the fact that to date Visual Literacy (VL) scholars have not arrived at a general consensus for a theoretical organization of the VL field, important conceptual investigations have emerged over the past four decades. In this paper we discuss and synthesize those studies. We then present a first attempt toward a cohesive theory of VL. The…

The past century's technological revolution has returned images to a central place in people's individual and collective lives. Photography became widely popular in the first half of the past century, creating new visual forms of high art, mass advertising, and amateur entertainment. During the latter half of the twentieth century, innovations in…

External representations (ERs), such as diagrams, animations, and dynamic models are vital tools for communicating and constructing knowledge in biochemistry. To build a meaningful understanding of structure, function, and process, it is essential that students become visually literate by mastering key cognitive skills that are essential for…

American high school students reflect their disinterest in school and classroom activities through increased disengagement and higher dropout rates. Narrowing our instructional strategies because of our increased focus on testing limits non-text-based activities at exactly the time when visual means dominate student learning. Approaching…

Visualization is an essential skill for all students and biochemists studying and researching the molecular and cellular biosciences. In this study, we discuss the nature and importance of visualization in biochemistry education and argue that students should be explicitly taught visual literacy and the skills for using visualization tools as…

This paper describes a faculty resource team in the Bradley University (Illinois) Department of Industrial Engineering that works with student project teams in an effort to improve their visualization and oral presentation skills. Students use state of the art technology to develop and display their visuals. In addition to technology, students are…

Focuses on how visual images can help students integrate concepts and synthesize information to make a judgment, thereby guiding the learner toward higher order thinking. Uses geography to demonstrate how, by incorporating visual exercises, student perceptions of difficult concepts are enhanced. (CMK)

A few of the relationships between visual and verbal components are explored. Visuals are considered to be things that can be seen, visible things other than printed words that are used in a communication process. The term verbal applies to written or spoken words. The natural tendency for visual and verbal components to be mutually supportive has…