The Problem: Jumping Straight to Creation
Imagine asking students to write a persuasive essay without ever reading one or trying to solve quadratic equations without seeing examples first. It sounds ridiculous, right? Yet many of us do this with infographics all the time without considering that another step may be necessary. The solution is simple: start with analysis, not creation. In my recent post titled, How I Design Infographics for Multimodal Learning Projects in Canva, I shared how infographics support student learning by functioning as instructional tools and as an entry point into Digital Multimodal Composition (DMC). In this blog, I’ll share why easing students into infographics through scaffolded activities leads to better learning outcomes, and how you can implement this approach in your classroom starting tomorrow.
Easing into Infographics
Oftentimes, students lack visual literacy, which is the ability to interpret and create visual messages. Most of their schooling has focused on text-based communication (reading and writing). When we suddenly ask them to communicate visually, they don’t have the schema to know:
- What makes an infographic effective vs. cluttered
- How to balance text and images
- How to organize information visually
- What design choices support (or distract from) the message
Without seeing and analyzing examples first, students are guessing. Though we may believe that infographics are easy to grasp, it is not always the case.
A Scaffolded Approach
Students need to see and understand effective infographics before they can make them. The concept of scaffolding is grounded in research. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) explains that students learn best when tasks are challenging, but achievable with support. Jumping straight into creation puts students outside of their ZPD. Allowing them opportunities to analyze infographics first keeps in the zone. Additionally, analyzing examples helps students to create schema. Students need to build mental models of what “good” looks like before they can produce it themselves.
Common Teacher Concerns
Many teachers feel the pressure of time constraints when determining which activities their students should do. The truth is, if you are a teacher, you spend additional time on infographics after they fail the assignment, and reteaching is necessary. Scaffolding upfront saves time on the back end because students will have time to process what an infographic is, its purpose, and how to use it correctly. Although some students are familiar with infographics, some are not. An infographic analysis activity gives those who have not been introduced to them a chance to learn what they are and how they work. Emergent Bilinguals (EBs), for example, are an example of a student population that typically requires time to familiarize themselves with something like infographics because of differences in academic expectations from country to country.
In other instances, there may be students who are familiar with infographics and have actually made them. Initially, you may feel that it is okay to skip analyzing infographics. Before doing so, however, ask yourself the following questions:
- Can they explain what makes an infographic effective?
- Do their past infographics show they truly understand the concepts or just “pretty pictures”?
If the answers to these questions are no, give them opportunities to analyze infographics to strengthen their understanding of their purpose. Even “experienced students” benefit from explicit analysis.
Respecting the Learning Process
Creating effective infographics is a skill. Like any skill, it requires instruction, practice, and feedback. We wouldn’t ask students to compete in a basketball tournament without first teaching them how to dribble a ball. Why would we ask them to create infographics without first teaching them how they work? When we ease into infographics through scaffolded activities, we are:
- Respecting their learning process
- Building visual literacy skills
- Ensuring deeper content learning
- Setting them up for success instead of frustration
If you start with analysis and build up to creation, students will thrive.
Explore tutorials and resources:
Visit my Multimodal Tutorials page for step-by-step guides and examples you can use in your classroom or nonprofit program. Also, visit my store on Teachers Pay Teachers for infographic analysis activities that will support student learning.