Visual Statement Learning:
A Preliminary Study

M. Gershon Bulgatz and Dustin Lehman
Montana State University-Billings

   Most teaching and learning methods are based on verbalization alone. Visual statements have the potential to clarify and represent verbal information. Hence, some visual statements paired with verbal statements in an extra-credit quiz review format could be enjoyable, involving, and lead to higher levels of retention than verbalization alone. Participants in the investigations were students in a learning class and a 1-5 Likert scale survey was administered after the exercise. The qualitative and quantitative data indicated that the illustrations grabbed attention better and were more enjoyable than verbal statements alone. So, the idea is that visual illustrations have potential to increase learning and retention of academic material.

   Many educators in different areas of study are looking for new ways to increase learning & retention. For many of these educators, the focus has been on the use of visual stimulation. Pruisner (1997) described graphics as having the “power to clarify and represent”. According to Kulhavy's conjoint retention model, auditory information is deposited in the verbal store in memory, whereas visual information is an image that is put in a separate visual store. If auditory and visual information are presented together then a link may be created between the verbal and visual stores (Kulhavy, Lee, & Caterino, 1985). Hence, information in either store can be a cue to retrieve information from the other store. Schreiber, et.al. (2002) indicates that the linkage can lead to better retention in view of the fact that more information can be stored. He took text (auditory information) and paired it with images (maps). The text and map were either connected to each other or they were unrelated. The results indicated that when the text and map were connected the amount of recall increased significantly. Cross (2003) points out that visual information is a supplement not a replacement for verbal information. According to Stanley< (1997), some biology instructors utilize visual images such as graphs to help students process more information. Blystone (1989) indicates illustrations such as diagrams have become an essential part of the biology learning experience.

   Scheiber’s study was not done in an academic setting and the participants didn’t create the stimuli, while Stanley’s investigation was mainly talking about procedural aspects. The present investigation however, looked at the use of paired verbal and visual stimuli done by participants in a classroom setting in psychology. Paired auditory and visual statements could lead to increased retention, enjoyment, attention, involvement, and more connection between different information than auditory material alone. A second study was completed that was similar to the first one except the visuals were in color. Both of these studies are trying to find the level of influence visual images (color and black and white) have on retention. The hypotheses begin with the statement that the presentation of visual statements paired with verbal statements (PLS) will lead to an increase in retention, which in turn will result in higher levels of recall. The participants will find that the PLS are enjoyable, beneficial, attention grabbing, more involving, and easier to connect the information.

   Method

   Participants/Setting:

   There were 16 participants in the first study and 13 in the second study. Participants were all undergraduates with a small number of males and mostly females. The setting was a classroom in a comprehensive university in the northwest United States.

   Materials/apparatus:

   Materials included PLS which are visual pictures paired with verbal statements. In addition, verbal statements alone were used. All statements were in a true/false format. Furthermore, in the second study some PLS were in color.

   Procedure/design:

   The studies were done with students during the usual class period. Verbal statements were on note cards & put in a row on the instructors desk. A few of the statements were PLS and were placed on transparencies which were interspersed among all the other statements. The instructor read the verbal statements and the transparencies were put on an overhead projector. In a somewhat random fashion, students received the PLS one at a time. The instructor read the first statement which was verbal. The student was given time to read a PLS, then the instructor read it aloud. The designated student (determined by seat order) was asked to give an answer of true or false. The instructor then indicated if the answer was correct. At the end of the session, a 1-5 Likert scale survey with one comment request was handed out to be completed by the participants.

   Results

   During the first study, the participants felt that the PLS captured their attention better (4.2), found it more involving (4.1), and enjoyable (4.3). Furthermore, the students found the PLS connects material better (4), a good review (4.1), and leads to better retention (3.9). One participant said “It’s easier to remember when there’s something I can picture in my head” and another student indicated that “A mental image helps retain connected information similar to the mnemonics technique”. Students also preferred the PLS (3.5), but were rather neutral toward increasing attendance. (see graph 1).

   The averages for the females per question are on the whole lower than the male’s (see the preceding and following data tables). The leading difference between the two are whether PLS should be used on exams or not (male– 4; female– 2.8). One result where the females were higher than the males is whether PLS connects the material better than verbal statements. This is interesting because the males would generally prefer to have PLS on exams (4), but believe that PLS does not connect material as well as the verbal statements (when compared to females) (male– 3.8; female– 4.1). For the majority, the averages per question for the males were higher than the female’s. This can be easily viewed by looking at the general averages of 3.95 (male’s) and 3.61 (female’s). (see graph 2).

   The results seem to show that the PLS were enjoyable and were thought to be a good review for the students. One student commented on how he felt about PLS, “The pictures bring a different perspective to a question… (where) the connotation might get lost in the droning of a voice.”  The data also shows that the participants believe there is better retention with visual statements when paired with verbal statements than when verbal statements are presented alone. A couple of the female participants commented on their thoughts about how PLS affects retention, “It’s easier to remember when there’s something I can picture in my head,” and the other said, “A mental image helps retain connected information similar to the mnemonics technique.” One question that had a high average response was that the PLS captured attention better as one of the students said, “I think that PLS gains my attention a little better...” which seemed to be the general perception towards the matter of attention.

   In the second study there were two PLS, one was the normal black and white PLS and the other was a color PLS. After the PLS trial, a short survey was given to determine if the color PLS had any differential effect on learning or retention. The survey asked similar questions and used the same rating scale as the survey from the first study, but had different results.

   The females had the same or higher amount of points on every question which indicates that females generally approve of color PLS more so than males do. This statement can easily be seen by looking at the general averages between the females (see above data) and males (see graph 3).

   One significant difference that this survey was able to show was that females perceive color PLS to capture attention better (4.3) than males do (3.3). This is interesting because in the first study on the matter of attention, there was basically no difference between males and females. Some of the other significant differences are whether or not the color PLS connect material better, if color PLS are a better review than normal black and white PLS, and if color PLS are more thought provoking. In each of these survey questions, the females responded with higher numbers than the males. One significant factor of these results however, are that there were ten female participants and only three male participants. (see graph 4).

   Discussion

Visual statements are beneficial not only to educators, but to anyone who has an open mind and is willing to learn. They stimulate minds and they effectively clarify and represent information in a way other forms of learning cannot. The first investigation found that visual statements are beneficial and that they help to clarify, connect, represent, and aid in the retention of information. Visual learning creates opportunity for people to take what they see and connect it to what they hear or have heard. It can be described as, “the acquisition and construction of knowledge as a result of interaction with visual phenomena” (Seels 1994). This “interaction with visual phenomena” has some promising potential to increase knowledge and retention of knowledge to anyone who is willing to utilize it. The point is that in order to have a positive increase in any way, one must interact to gain that positive increase or growth. The main goal in using visual statements is to help students or whoever might be involved, to connect their existing knowledge into new knowledge, which will help them to understand and remember information more clearly. The second study which used visual statements with color found that in general, both males and females perceive these statements to be enjoyable. However, this second study provided little conclusive evidence on the effect on learning and/or retention due to the amount of participants. Further studies of this topic might be to examine participant’s reactions when the number of PLS are compared to the number of verbal statements or to test the levels of recall before and after the presentation of PLS and/or verbal statements. Also, having an equal number of men as women could possibly present stronger data. Another possible extension could be to have every student who is present during the study participate or to have the students participate in groups. With the use of visual learning comes great opportunity for the thinkers of the future. If visual statements can be incorporated into more areas of people’s lives, then remarkable opportunities will become available to them. What really matters is whether those people will choose to embrace what visual statements have to offer them. If they do, there will be a world of new thoughts, desires, ambitions and endless possibilities for originality.

WORKS CITED

Blystone, R. V., (1989). Biology learning based on illustrations. In Walter G. Rosen, (Ed.), High school biology today and tomorrow (pp. 155-164). Washington, DC: National Academy< Press.

Cross, J., (2003). Sight mammals: people learn from images as well as words, yet most of corporate learning is delivered in text. It's time to open our eyes to the possibilities. American Society for Training & Development, 57(2), 47.

Kulhavy, R. W., Lee, J. B., & Caterino, L. C. (1985). Conjoint retention of maps and related discourse. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 10, 28-37.

Mowat, N., (2004). Effective use of visual learning tools to improve student learning ... and more! Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 11(2), 35.

Pruisner, P. A. P., (1997). Using Graphics for Integrated Planning. Cheyenne, WY: Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 408979)

Schreiber, J. B., Verdi, M. P., Patock-Peckham, J., & Kealy, W., (2002). Differing map construction and text organization and their effects on retention. The Journal of Experimental Education, 70(2), 114.

Seels, B. A. (1994). Visual literacy: The definition problem. In Moore, D. M., & Dwyer, F. M., (Ed.), Visual literacy: A spectrum of visual learning. Englewood< Cliffs (pp. 97-112). New Jersey: Educational Technology Publications.

Stanley, E. D., (1997). Visual Learning in Field Biology. Cheyenne, WY: Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 408982)