This article argues that instructors can effectively implement visual and multi-modal methods often used in beginner and intermediate courses as effective building blocks to develop skills of literary analysis. The article presents aspects of a mini-curriculum based on "Die Verwandlung," the graphic novel, and examples of student work…

How school librarians focus on activating critical thinking through traditional literacy development can proactively set the stage for the deep thinking that occurs in all literacy development. The critical-thinking skills students build while becoming accomplished readers and writers provide the foundation for learning in a variety of…

University instructors preparing prospective sixth- to twelfth-grade history teachers often realize it can be difficult to condense the extensive information these individuals need for their future profession into one or two courses. Teacher preparation programs are forced to juggle requirements for program accreditation with their ethical…

Cognitive research has shown that the human brain processes images quicker than it processes words, and images are more likely than text to remain in long-term memory. With the expansion of technology that allows people from all walks of life to create and share photographs with a few clicks, the world seems to value visual media more than ever…

In this article, director of Educational Outreach at the Library of Congress Lee Ann Potter describes a classroom activity that focuses on an 1876 single-page circular published in Salem, Massachusetts about Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech. A. M. Bell's son, Alexander Graham Bell described "Visible Speech" as "a…

As one might expect, visual literacy has particular necessity for the librarian who, like this author, works in a Visual Resources Center (VRC). Recently the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published its updated "Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." These standards succinctly introduce visual…

This article adds to the small collection of art education studies on video games (Parks, 2008; Patton, 2013; Sweeny, 2010) by critically examining the association between violent video games, the U.S. military, and mental disability--from a critical disability studies perspective. Derby overviews the controversies surrounding violent video games…

What are the possibilities for poetry? This paper introduces approaches to creating and teaching poetry through a critical survey of contemporary practitioners within the field. Analysis of ekphrastic traditions, comics and concrete poetry, artists books, graffiti poems, film, performance and interdisciplinary collaborations reveal new…

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 author critiques covers of "Ebony" and "GQ" magazines in order to expose race and class narratives, and he encourages teachers to help students to become more aware of the ways in which other images "connote cultural information." Because of the prevalence of images in contemporary society, it is imperative that…

In the spring of 2010, the author had the pleasure of working with four fifth graders, exploring reading engagement with graphic novels. During her research study, she became inspired by the connections these fifth graders made between the graphic novels they discussed and the film medium and ultimately concluded that this connection contributed…

The paper describes the importance of graphicacy as a key communication tool in our everyday lives. The need to better understand the development of graphicacy and its use in the school curriculum is emphasised. The need for a new research tool is explained and the development of a new taxonomy of graphicacy is described. The use of this tool…

All too often, subjects in schools present disjointed phenomena as a compilation of data or facts that seem isolated from students' lives. However, current science education pedagogy clearly emphasizes integration of knowledge and skills in real-world settings (NRC 2007). This integrated instructional approach addresses fundamental process skills…

The emergence of quality multimodal texts such as graphic novels may provide new vistas that allow adolescents access to more complex readings of difficult texts. This is especially true for the large number of graphic versions of Shakespearean text that have recently come on the market. However, it is still unclear as to what students actually…

This essay explores the use of computer technology and multimedia in students learning. Undoubtedly, the advent of computer technology has changed the way humans learn and do things. Moreover, "Computer has become standard equipment" (Bitter & Pierson, 2002) in everyday life. The ability to process data in a real time has helped…