Visual learning

Overview

Visual learning is a proven teaching method in which graphic organizers, such as webs, concept maps and idea maps, are used to help students of all ages think and learn more effectively.

Students create graphic organizers by selecting symbols to represent ideas and information. To show the relationships between ideas, students link the symbols and add words to further clarify meaning.

By representing information spatially and with images, students are able to focus on meaning, reorganize and group similar idea easily, and make better use of their visual memory.

Visual learning is fundamental to student success and can be used to improve academic performance across the curriculum.

Specifics

In a study entitled Graphic Organizers: A Review of Scientifcally Based Research, The Institute for the Advancement of Research in Education at AEL evaluated 29 studies and concluded that visual learning improves student performacne in the following areas:

Critical Thinking--Graphic organizers link verbal and visual information to help students make connections, understand relationships and recall related details.

Retention--According to research, students better remember information when it's represented and learned both visually and verbally.

Comprehension--Students better comprehend new ideas when they are connected to prior knowldege.

Organization--Students can use diagrams to display large amounts of information in ways that are easy to understand and help reveal relationships and patterns.