Early Development of Graphical Literacy through Knowledge Building

Authors

Jianwei Zhang, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Yongcheng Gan, Toronto Community Housing CorporationFollow
Marlene Scardamalia, University of Toronto, Canada
Huang-Yao Hong, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

This study examined growth in graphical literacy for students contributing to an online, multimedia, communal environment as they advanced their understanding of biology, history and optics. Their science and history studies started early in Grade 3 and continued to the end of Grade 4; students did not receive instruction in graphics production, nor were they required to produce graphics. Results show that students spontaneously produced graphics that advanced along seven dimensions, including effective representation of complex ideas, use of source information and captions, and aesthetic quality. On average, the scores for the seven dimensions were higher for Grade 4 students with two years of experience with Knowledge Building pedagogy and technology (Knowledge Forum®) than for Grade 6 students with one year of experience. The overall pattern of results suggests reciprocal enhancement of graphical, textual, digital, and scientific literacy, with students exceeding expectations by available norms, and performance enhanced through extended Knowledge Building experience.

Comments

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Originally published in the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology

Recommended Citation

Zhang, Jianwei; Gan, Yongcheng; Scardamalia, Marlene; and Hong, Huang-Yao, "Early Development of Graphical Literacy through Knowledge Building" (2010). Educational Theory and Practice Faculty Scholarship. 5.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etap_fac_scholar/5