Engaging Teenagers with Science Through Comics

The potential of comics in science communication

“…Spiegel and colleagues compared the effects of comics and essays in teaching concepts of virology to high-school students (N=873) [Spiegel et al, 2013]. While Short and colleagues, used comics as additional material in a class for business students (N=114) [Short, Randolph-Seng and McKenny, 2013].…”

“…Indeed, the effects of comics may be equivalent to text when readers are required to memorize the material (regardless of the format) but comics could prove to be more effective at engaging occasional readers. This seems a particularly promising application for comics, considering that the few existing studies revealed that students with no prior knowledge of the subject were those who mostly benefited from their use [Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Spiegel et al, 2013] and the suggestion that comics "may enable a wider audience of non-specialists individuals, who do not typically seek out science information, to engage with science-related topics, thus fostering scientific literacy" [Spiegel et al, 2013].…”

“…In fact, most of the initial research in educational comics focused on short strips or single panel cartoons [Toledo, Yangco and Espinosa, 2014;Kaptan andİzgi, 2014;Kim et al, 2016;Nagata, 1999;Naylor and Keogh, 1999] and their results may be ascribed to the general effects of visualisation, rather than comics per se. On the other end of the spectrum, the results of studies comparing graphic novels with textbooks or essays [Spiegel et al, 2013;Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Lin et al, 2015;Short, Randolph-Seng and McKenny, 2013] could be attributed to the narrative component of the graphic novel, compared to the expository structure of the textbook. Indeed, Hosler and Boomer express this concern when discussing their results: "Would embedding content in a prose story be as effective or is there something inherently motivating about comics that engage students?"…”

“…While some scholars [McCloud, 1994;Sousanis, 2015] argued that the juxtaposition of words and pictures in comics achieve effects larger than the sum of its parts, it is not clear if combining storytelling and visualisation techniques is indeed more effective, from a communication perspective. Moreover, while comics have been studied as a tool for classroom education [Aleixo and Norris, 2010;Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Short, Randolph-Seng and McKenny, 2013;Spiegel et al, 2013;Weitkamp and Burnet, 2007], their application to the specific challenges of science communication remain largely unexplored. One of the reasons behind this scarcity of research is probably the lack of an accepted definition of what constitutes a 'comic'.…”

Alter egos: an exploration of the perspectives and identities of science comic creators

“…In order to establish a pool of potential interviewees, a list of sci-comic titles/creators referenced in the literature [Meier, 2012;Tatalovic, 2009;Spiegel et al, 2013] was compiled, followed by internet searches in order to determine the most prominent or well-known examples of available materials (e.g. most frequently referenced, top-sellers, award-winners, high page views).…”