COMICS AND EDUCATION

As Vassilikopoulou Marianthi, Michael Boloudakis and Symeon Retalis professors at the University of Piraeus, Greece, state in their article entitled From Digitised Comic Books to Digital Hypermedia  Comic Books: Their Use in  Education:

 The educational potential of comics is an issue worth researching. From the early 40’s many educators in USA such as W. W. D. Sones (1944) and others conducted a series of studies on using comic books in education, providing data for its usefulness. Comics-supported curriculum appeared, while the Journal of Educational Sociology devoted the 1944's Volume 18, Issue 4 to the topic. On the other hand other educational scientists regarded comics harmful for literacy and eventually the impetus of pro-comics educators stopped. (1)

Nowadays, there is a controversy regarding the use of comics in education. It has been a subject of debate since their creation in the 1930`s.  Those who do use them as educational tools support the idea because they consider that comics engage creatively  and motivate students to study, by providing them with a means to remember better what they have learned.

           In the article mentioned above, the three professors conduct a research in order to see the effectiveness of  comics in education. The use of comics in education is based on Clark & Paivio’s dual code theory which emphasizes the importance of imagery in cognitive operations.

Twenty-two student teachers with a range of experience and science backgrounds (the majority of them were teachers of primary and secondary schools) were asked:

•       To interpret (decode) the given comic book;
•    To create a concept map of the main ideas;
•    To create their own comic book in order to teach a subject

        Through questionnaires and interviews with the student-teachers, the following results emerged vis-a-vis comics as a lesson-plan innovative tool:

        Their feelings about the use of comics as learning tool were more positive. Almost all of them had positive feelings about this approach. Typical comments were that the approach was “interesting”, “easy to understand”, “have quick results” “offers intimacy with the characters”, “creative freedom”, “focusing on key points”. “opportunity for metacognition” “alternative ways to set up lessons” “visualise the concepts”, “retain in memory”, “best results when it used complimentary”, “intermediate step to more complicated concepts”, “identification with hero or heroine”, “experience of vicarious satisfaction”, “raise the interest of reluctant readers”, “learn through playing”, “makes fun out of learning”, “motivating”, “gain attention”. All of them agreed that they can use the strategy in their own teaching in primary and secondary schools in a variety of school subjects. (5)

The authors of the study conclude that: 

The research confirmed what is generally believed about the strengths of comics in education and the added value of digital hypermedia comics. Generally the attitudes of the student teachers to this approach were generally favourable. Nearly all of the student-teachers held positive views about the value of comics as a teaching approach.(5)

 Comics have also been used as a medium to communicate health care information on subjects such as diabetes.

              In the USA, the use of comics for education, via the Internet, can be seen on Comics in the Classroom, and the state of Maryland's Comic Book Initiative. Professional development content on how teachers can integrate comics in the classroom is available through the State of California Department of Education's Brokers of Expertis website.

WRITTEN BY RUXANDRA MANEA

EDITED BY ANTONIA GIRMACEA