Development and Use of Visual Explanations: Harnessing the Power of the “Seeing” Brain to Enhance Student Learning

Abstract

When students come to class, they bring with them the most powerful processor known to man—the human brain! Our job as teachers is to discover and implement practices that will make the most effective use of those brains. The human brain is a very powerful processor of sensory information, especially with regard to the sense of vision. We can harness the power of the “seeing” brain to enhance students' learning by providing (“feeding”) our students with concrete experiences that are replete with information‐rich visual explanations, such as images, diagrams, graphs, video clips, animations, anthropomorphic images, cartoons, samples, demonstrations, experiments, and performances of our subject matter, rather than relying on word‐only (verbal and/or text) explanations. As far as our brains are concerned, the old saying “A picture's worth a thousand words” is really true! Thus, the focus of this teaching tip is to explore the benefits and practical aspects of “feeding” visual explanations (“food”) to the sensory portion of our students' brains to enhance their learning and to encourage others to not only use visual explanations in their teaching, but also to develop visual explanations specific to their subject matter and to share them with others. This article also provides students and instructors alike with 3 animations, in QuickTime format, and a PowerPoint presentation containing a number of example visual explanations. These materials are available as supplementary materials on the journal website and can be downloaded for free educational use.

A Study of the Correlation of the Use of Visuals and Learning Elementary Science Vocabulary

“…To further complicate the teachers' expectations of learning, children cannot always visualize oral language, nor do they necessarily apply background knowledge that would aid in their learning (Cochrane, 2013). In light of these challenges, image-based education demands development and use of both efficient and effective visuals based on current research on human learning (Schmidt, 2009). …”

“…Learners can create mental sketches or even mini movies that the mind encodes at the time of learning and subsequently retrieves when necessary (Wilson, 2012). The human brain powerfully processes sensory information, particularly visual information, and if educators can harness that power, their teaching can facilitate changes in the learners' brains (Schmidt, 2009). …”

“…When students come to class, they do not come empty handed. They enter with the most powerful processor known to mankind: the human brain (Schmidt, 2009). It is within this processor that connections are established and images are created.…”

How Does the Freezer Burn Our Food?

“…Next, have students inspect the contents of their home freezer, identifying and recording any evidences they find on products of freezer burn. Make sure to have them record the type of product and how long it may have been in the freezer, as well as the packaging materials used and conditions (for example, package was loosely wrapped). Transform each student‐centered objective into a question and use it as an in‐class microtheme assignment (Schmidt and others 2002) to probe student comprehension. Have student volunteers perform (termed Food Science Theater, Schmidt 2008) the moisture loss aspect of freezer burn as depicted in Figure 6, using signs for the various “players.”“Players” needed include ice on the surface of the food, water vapor, refrigerator coil, and ice on the refrigerator coil. Select 6 freshly frozen ice cubes. Individually wrap three of the ice cubes with saran wrap, making sure to minimize the amount of air space around the ice cubes.…”

Student Projects that Make a Meaningful and Lasting Contribution to Course Content

“…For more on the topic of visual explanations the interested reader is encouraged to view the article by Schmidt () entitled “Development and Use of Visual Explanations: Harnessing the Power of the “Seeing” Brain to Enhance Student Learning.”…”