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Diagrams and visual literacy |
2 Diagrams and visual literacy |
How diagrams are processed
A diagram's effectiveness depends on how well it is used by the persons viewing it.
Visual literacy includes pictorial materials.
To learn from a text, a person needs a level and type of literacy appropriate to the nature of this text.
Visual literacy includes the capacity to read visual displays effectively.
Diagrams are not like other pictures: they require diagram knowledge and diagram reading skills.
The diagram processing task When we are presented with incomplete information, we try to fill the gaps in that information using knowledge we have stored in long-term memory.
A good diagram is an incomplete set of information:
anything considered not of central relevance to the subject matter is removed.
So, the viewer needs to be able to reconstruct the situation it depicts:
How diagrams present information
Diagrams use particular techniques to make presentation clearer:
For some learner diagrams pose challenges. Diagrams versus text
With most European languages,
reading means going thru a text from left to right and from top to bottom.
Reading text involves readers in putting together:
Diagrams have a much lower degree of standardization as texts.
Diagrams versus other pictures Realistic portrayal limits the power to provide explanations. A photograph of a pepper mill tells us little about the functional components and the way these components work together. Importance of background knowledge
What a persons sees and understands depends upon what the same person already knows about:
Making conventions explicit Some diagram conventions are quite formal and well-defined, many others are much looser and less standardized,
The designer of diagrams has to consider the influence of these conventions both at the stage of:
Subject matter experts underestimate the problems that diagram conventions can cause.
Ways to inform viewers about the conventions:
Especially confusing for beginners in a subject is the use of the same graphic entity for different purposes. Compare: the inconsistent use of arrows. Why people use diagrams poorly
Good design alone is no guarantee that people will use a diagram effectively as a resource of learning.
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