Comic books boost how kids learn science, study finds
Ten-year-olds who designed comics about evolving lizards showed stronger grasp of complex biological concepts through combining images, words, and gestures. The finding suggests educators should rethink science curricula to include visual storytelling—a low-cost tool that engages multiple learning styles simultaneously.
Originaltitel: Designing “Armis Lecerta”: Transformations and transductions in three primary students’ comic book making in natural science education
<p>In this study, we explore how students in Year 4 (10 years old) utilize different semiotic modes while designing a comic displaying the evolution of a lizard with a particular trait: armor. Situated use of comic design for natural science didactics is an understudied practice, and, thus, based on video observations of three case students working throughout seven lessons, we draw on designs for learning when exploring how different semiotic modes are utilized in meaning making to create an evolutionary trait in designing a comic. The analysis demonstrates how the lizards’ armor is designed, and how this semiotic content is transformed and transduced by the students through different semiotic modes. The results demonstrate that the students’ process develops from mainly verbal discussions to drawn images, to writing, to finally producing the multimodal ensembles of their comics. However, this process is not linear, and the analysis shows how sometimes an individual student’s drawing, gestures, or writing can also become the origin of an idea that is developed through transductions to other modes. Thus, in comic design, transductions between modes support students’ understanding of the biological content, as well as their ability to formulate more general conclusions in the classroom.</p>