PICTURES ARE CRITICAL IN EDUCATION and in teaching environments because they supplement and enhance the text or audio being given to the learner. These pictures, though, must be presented to the learner in such a way that viewing the pictures is beneficial and supportive of the instructional process rather than a hindrance or obstacle. The selection and manipulation of pictures is essential for good instruction. When using pictures for educational purposes, apply some key principles for pictoral use (Fleming, 1993).

A learner will remember pictures better than text or auditory information. Therefore, use pictures to help learners remember complex, lengthy, or multi-part concepts.

A picture can relay the concept of "waterfall and rainbow"

much more succinctly than a wordy paragraph.

Natural cascading waterfalls combined with direct sunlight often create amazing displays of color through misty rainbows. These rainbows seem to be transient as they are apparent for only seconds at a time.

Pictures can play multiple roles in the educational environment. Clearly define a picture’s role within the learning context before using it in instruction. Use pictures in four ways:

• Decoration - add aesthetics to a page
• Representation - connects learning with a tangible or intangible item not readily accessible to the learner
• Interpretation - multiple pictures strung together to define a process or procedure
• Transformation - defines multiple uses of a representation 
  

Decoration - the flower is not necessary for content         Representation - parts of the flower are visually depicted and labeled

Interpretation - pictures of flowers and a face help to

             describe the process of oxygen/carbon dioxide transfer             

 Transformation - flowers have multiple uses: they

are used for beauty, pollination, and photosynthesis

Multiple pictures can help describe or detail a process. Place these pictures in a sequential process that is familiar to the learner. Use an up/down or left/right format

These pictures are not in a sequential order. The learner has difficulty understanding the process of plant growth. 

These pictures are in a sequential order that helps the learner understand the process of plant growth.

For more information on similar topics, see the EET articles Visual Perception: Gestalt Laws, Text Design, or Typography.

Chris Schmidt,
SDSU Educational Technology
Graduate Student