VISUAL LITERACY
by Roberts A. Braden
SUMMARY OF ARTICLE
In the article, “Visual Literacy” by Roberts A. Braden, the author
discusses the wide ranges of topics that pertain to visual literacy research.
This article is divided into eleven sections.
The first section (16.1) talks about the definition of visual literacy. No
one can agree on one common definition, because theirs is just so many.
The next section (16.2) talks about the theoretical foundations of visual
literacy. John Debes provides the longest and longest lasting definition of
visual literacy. Braden and Horton can up with a shorter definition stating
that “visual literacy is the ability to understand and use images, including
the ability to think, learn, and express oneself in terms of images.”
Baca’s definition was similar to Braden and Horton’s but Baca
addressed design, creativity, and aesthetics as they relate to visualization.
The next section (16.3) talks about establishing a visual literacy research
agenda. Spitzer and McNerny were the first authors to build a framework for
visual literacy research. Lida Cochran and the Cochran team held seminars
and meeting with visual literacists to examine the possibilities of visual
research. Hartly addressed the role of print-based research.
The next section (16.4) discusses the different vocabulary components which
are reading pictures, visual representation, and color. Visual representation
can be broken down into separate entities which are semiotics and film/video
conventions, signs, symbols and icons, images and illustrations, multi-image,
graphic representation, diagrams, charts, and graphs.
The next section (16.5) discusses the aspects of visualization. The author
talk about mental imaging and how it has been demonstrated to be effective
as an aid to learning. The author also talks about mnemonics and how to use
mnemonic imagery to memorize things such as people’s name and phone
numbers.
The next section (16.6) talks about several different ways that visual literacy
can be taught and learned. Dake created a list of 20 topics that could be
used in teaching visual literacy. The findings of the Program of Systematic
Evaluation (PSE) have resulted in dozens of principles for visualized instruction
and for visual design. Braden and Beauchamp proposed a 2X2 matrix model for
the visual and audible realism continuum. There are several other that also
helped in the teaching of visual literacy.
The next section (16.7) discusses visual thinking. It is said that visual
thinking is the most abstract concept that draws attention from researchers
of visual literacy. There are now schools, Minneapolis public schools, that
attempts to teach visual thinking.
The next section (16.8) discusses visual and verbal literacy. There have
been some research made to determine whether and to what degree the presence
of pictures distracted beginning readers. They found that second and third
grade readers read more slowly when the text was in the presence of pictures.
Other studies show that black students from a lower socioeconomic status(SES)
benefited from pictures, while white students from a higher SES did not.
The next section (16.9) discusses the visual-verbal relationship. The concept
of visual-verbal symbiosis is rooted in the idea that “visuals”
support “verbals” and vice versa.
The next section (16.10) discusses how text can be used as visuals. Text-in-visuals
and text-as-visual does not mean the same thing. Text-in-visuals would be
things such as illustrations and pictures that has labels. Text-as-visuals
would be using a certain set of typography and style that will seem that the
text is a visual.
The next section (16.11) discusses how electronic visuals impacts visual
literacy. Screen design, computer graphics, animations, graphic user interfaces,
and graphic browsers all have a major role in electronic visuals.
The last section (16.12) concludes the article. Visual literacy research
is such overwhelming that much research needs to be done. The author’s
best advice in research methods is to design quantitative studies instead
of qualitative ones.
IMPACT ON PRACTICE OF EDUATION
Visual literacy does hold an impact on practice in education. Educators
needs to teach their students at least the very basics of visual literacy.
Everywhere we look, we see graphics, images, and illustrations that hold meaning.
Students needs to be able to understand the meaning to it to better educate
themselves and their environment in which they are at.
REACTION ON ARTICLE
Parts of this article are quite interesting. As a designer, I take visual
literacy very seriously. Every graphic or animation I create, I try to put
some kind of meaning to it. What’s interest’s me is that even
the display of text in a certain way can trigger a visual meaning to it. Certain
typography and fonts can have a variety of meanings to the visual text. I
think it just show that graphics or animations doesn’t have to be complex
or complicated to display meaning. It can just be as simple as a line or a
dot.
QUESTION(S) / TOPIC(S) FOR DISCUSSIONS
1. Should text-as-visuals constitute to visual literacy?
2. When should color be used to present an effective visual? (certain age,
gender factor)
