The use of drawing in the classroom has a contentious history in the U.S. education system. While most instructors and students agree that the activity helps students focus and observe more details, there is a lack of empirical data to support these positions. This study examines the use of three treatments (writing a description, drawing a…

This paper describes a theoretical framework for the investigation of some specific types of visual learning difficulties commonly experienced by biology undergraduates. The framework was developed based on the findings of three simple qualitative pilot studies. A variety of neurological, cognitive and cultural mechanisms can influence what humans…

Today's literature on the psychology of learning points out that intelligent learning is the formation of concept structures communicated and manipulated by means of symbols. The study presented in this paper examines the learning of biology by means of unguided viewing of television using two different television symbol systems: story animation…