Visual Literacy in Preservice Teachers: A Case Study in Biology

In this study, we explore the competence of preservice teachers (n = 161) in labelling and creating new cross-sectional human diagrams, based on anatomy knowledge depicted in longitudinal sections. Using educational standards to assess visual literacy and ad hoc open questions, results indicate limited skills for both tasks. However, their competence is particularly poor creating diagrams, where shortcomings were observed not only in visual literacy but in content knowledge. We discuss the misconceptions detected during these assessments.

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Visual Literacy in Practice: Use of Images in Students, Academic Work

Digital technology has changed the way in which students utilize visual materials in academic work and has increased the importance of visual literacy skills. This paper reports the findings of a research project examining undergraduate and graduate students’ visual literacy skills and use of images in the context of academic work. The study explored types of visual resources used, the role that images play in academic papers and presentations, and the ways students select, evaluate, and process images. The findings of the study indicate that students lack skills in selecting, evaluating, and using images. Students use a range of visual resources in their presentations but rarely use images in papers.

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Visual Literacies in a US Undergraduate Writing Course: A Case Study of Transmediation

This interpretive case study examines how undergraduate students enact visual literacies, focusing on transmediation from visual-embedded research papers into multimodal brochures, in an entry-level college writing course at a large research university in the U.S. Data sources included students’ artifacts, interview transcripts, and field notes.

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The Relationship between Metaliteracy Pretest, Posttest, and Metacognitive Strategies for Library Research Skills Scale: Creating a Metaliteracy Source for Online ED.D. Students

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, exploratory study was to create a metaliteracy course for online Ed.D. students and determine if there was a relationship between the Metacognitive Strategies for Library Research Skills Scale, Metaliteracy Pretest, and Metaliteracy Posttest.

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Social Media and New Visual Literacies: Proposal Based on an Innovative Teaching Project

Social networks and collaboration make it possible to offer new metacognitive horizons for comprehension of theories in a group of students considered digitally native. This study discusses the applicability of different forms of visualisation used as a constructivist learning technique on social networks.

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Perspectives of High School Photography Teachers Regarding Visual Literacy

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of high school photography teachers regarding visual literacy. A qualitative methodology that used a phenomenographic research design was employed to gain understanding about the perspectives of high school photography teachers in their conceptualization, perceptions, and experiences surrounding visual literacy.

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Past, Present, and Future: Mapping the Research in Visual Literacy

The multi-disciplinarity of visual literacy has become even more pronounced in an age of digital information. What shared questions do we ask in our research, where does our work intersect and how do those intersections define the field of visual literacy? Through an analysis of the articles published in the Journal of Visual Literacy from its inception in 1981 through 2017, this article aims to identify the research topics and questions that tie together the diverse disciplines in which visual literacy research takes place and to suggest areas for future research. Mapping the questions that drive our research can help us better define the field, better articulate the value of our scholarship and better share our work with those in the communities in which we teach and practice.

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Gaming for Multiliteracies: Video Games in a Case Study with Primary School Students to Enhance Information, Visual and Media Literacies

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of video games when learning multiliteracies competences, study how to use video games on educational contexts, carry through a program with primary school students, and draw recommendations to design similar projects.

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A Didactic Innovation Project in Higher Education through a Visual and Academic Literacy Competence-based Program

This research paper describes the application of a didactic innovation project in Higher Education. We present the theoretical foundation of the project. Thanks to the evolution of the Web and the potential of image to disseminate and generate knowledge, visual materials have had an increasingly powerful projection in Education, especially for the development of new methods, media and didactic materials in Higher Education. As a result of researchers interested in it, Visual Literacy has emerged as an academic field developing research and didactic effectiveness of the image, and digital competences and academic literacy as instruments to be integrated into curriculum of higher education for its excellence. We analyse the didactic innovation project by presenting how we integrated a Visual and Academic Literacy competence-based program into a course at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

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Visual Literacy in Mechanical Engineering Design: A Practical Approach to Assessment and Methods to Enhance Instruction

This work-in-progress seeks to benchmark the visual literacy skills of undergraduate mechanical engineering students at a small technical university, as well as the faculty’s current efforts to develop students’ visual literacy skills. Visual literacy is accepted as a crucial 21st century for students, professionals, and citizens, yet its definition varies greatly across the literature. In addition, existing assessment tools are too general and are insufficient for measuring visual literacy as it applies to engineering design. Our work seeks to establish a simplified method for assessing the visual literacy skills of graduating seniors in a mechanical engineering program.

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Visual Intelligence Education as an Innovative Interdisciplinary Approach for Advancing Communication and Collaboration skills in Nursing Practice

Recognizing the relationship of keen observation to communication, critical thinking, and leadership in evidence-based literature, educators have expanded the use of art museums to augment visual intelligence skills. The purpose of this pilot intervention was to evaluate an innovative, interdisciplinary approach for integrating visual intelligence skills into an advanced communications and collaboration course. Collaborating with museum educators, the intervention for doctoral students was conducted at the National Gallery of Art. The aims were to explore and evaluate observation skills, use of intentional language in communication, impact of visual intelligence on perception, and role of visual intelligence with empathy.

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Use of Video in Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies Programs

The effectiveness of using video content for teaching and learning has mixed reviews, but some potential positive outcomes include students improving their creativity, experiencing higher levels of interaction, increasing self-efficacy, and engaging in meaningful reflection. This exploratory study examined how higher education instructors in philanthropic and nonprofit studies programs in the United States use video in their courses

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The Role of Content-rich Visuals in the L2 Academic Listening Assessment Construct

Despite the growing recognition that second language (L2) listening is a skill incorporating the ability to process visual information along with the auditory stimulus, standardized L2 listening assessments have been predominantly operationalizing this language skill as visual-free (Buck, 2001; Kang, Gutierrez Arvizu, Chaipuapae, & Lesnov, 2016). This study has attempted to clarify the nature of the L2 academic listening assessment construct regarding the role of visual information.

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The Importance of Visual Literacy: An Analysis of Potential Obstacles for Romanian Students in the Completion of IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Although Romanian school curricula introduce pupils from all grades to various forms of graphic representation, Romanian students do not get enough training in graph analysis as required by an IELTS exam because this specific competence is not particularly envisaged by the national curriculum for English as a foreign language.

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The Effect of Infographics on Recall of Information about Genetically Modified Foods

Agricultural literacy levels are decreasing during a time of great technological growth in the agriculture industry. Many complex ideas, such as genetically modified foods, are gaining public interest while leading to confusion. The role of agricultural literacy campaigns is to be an educational source for those seeking truthful information about such subjects. Although multiple campaigns exist, society as a whole seems to be struggling with grasping topics like genetic modification. When trying to learn such subjects, a leaner’s cognitive resources can be overwhelmed, thus hindering the learning process. The inclusion of visual aids can prevent this from occurring.

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Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Graphic Novels to Teach Reluctant Readers

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of teachers in a suburban private school in Florida serving prekindergarten through Grade 8 regarding the use of graphic novels to increase student motivation to read. The problem was teachers were concerned with students’ inability to complete the required novels, demonstrate comprehension of deep meaning from the text, read silently, and read outside of school. Teachers raised serious concerns about the reading achievement of middle school students. Teachers also noted a frequent mismatch between the preference of the middle school reader and the instructional opportunities provided. The study was designed to help determine how the inclusion of graphic novels could benefit struggling and reluctant readers.

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Not Just a Pretty Picture Part Two: Testing a Visual Literacy Program for Young Children

In an effort to advance visual literacy (VL) education, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a VL instruction program for 2.5-4-year-old children in a public library setting. The study was designed as a series of VL workshops for young public library visitors. Each workshop collected information about children’s existing VL knowledge, introduced them to new visual concepts, and measured their engagement and comprehension of the newly acquired material. The study data were collected via questionnaires and observations.

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Methodological Approaches for Exploring Visual Literacy Practices

The proliferation of images and their increased use in academic and everyday information practices has sparked an interest in visual literacy as an area of research and library instruction. Teaching approaches and student learning are examined using theoretical frameworks and a variety of methodological strategies. This paper provides a review of research methodology adopted in empirical studies of visual literacy that were published in academic journals between 2011 and 2017.

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Inquiry-based Archival Instruction: An Exploratory Study of Affective Impact

Archival instruction pedagogy is shifting from traditional lecture-based show-and-tell approaches to more active hands-on strategies that fall within the realm of active or inquiry-based instruction. Archivists are beginning to assess their instruction sessions using reaction assessments, learning assessments, performance assessments, and blended approaches; gathering data to illustrate the efficacy of the instruction pedagogy employed and thereby shedding light on how archives contribute in meaningful ways to student learning.

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