The Psychology of Illustration

From the earliest stages of elementary school to the advanced college level, vari ous types of illustrations are included in educational materials in order to pro mote learning. These illustrative adjuncts are often profuse and, in many cases, they may be the most striking feature that distinguishes one set of learning materials from another. In addition, the perceived effectiveness of the illustra tions clearly plays an important role in the marketing of many educational materials. Despite this pervasiveness and salience in education, there has never been a systematic effort to bring together the results of research on illustrations in order to provide some level of guidance to the developers of commercial learning materials. There is, however, a considerable research literature that is directly relevant to this aspect of education. The purpose of the present two volume set is to summarize and interpret the existing research literature that deals with the various educational functions of illustrations. In undertaking to produce an omnibus reference work on psychological and instructional issues surrounding illustrated learning material, our paramount aim has been to stimulate closer collaboration between researchers, producers, and users of educational text. The problems associated with moving the findings of educational research into the realm of everyday practice have been perennial ones. While many researchers and practitioners are interested in fundamentally similar questions, they typically speak dissimilar languages, read different jour nals, and carry out their work under disparate ideologies.

Inhalt

1. Three Hundred Years of Illustrations in American Textbooks.- Illustrations in Pre-Eighteenth-Century Materials, Precursors to American Textbooks.- Illustrations in Eighteenth-Century American Textbooks.- Early-Nineteenth-Century Textbooks.- Later-Nineteenth-Century Textbooks.- The Use of Color.- The Move Toward Ethnicity and Equality.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgments.- References and Bibliography.- 2. The Analysis of Illustration in Theory and Practice.- Analytical Model.- Relevant Findings.- Analysis in Action.- Summary.- References.- 3. A Naturalistic Inquiry into Illustration in Instructional Textbooks.- Publishing Illustrations.- Teachers and Illustrations.- The Illustrations Themselves.- Overview and Directions.- References.- Appendices.- 4. Visual Displays in Basal Readers and Social Studies Textbooks.- Our Domain of Study.- The Big Issues.- Research on Effective Written/Visual Communications.- Method.- Results and Discussion.- General Discussion.- References.- 5. Designing Pictorial/Verbal Instruction: Some Speculative Extensions from Research to Practice.- Case Study 1.- Case Study 2.- Case Study 3.- Case Study 4.- Case Study 5.- Other Illustration Design Problems and Principles.- Closing Comparative Examples.- Closing Remarks.- References.- 6. Computer Graphics in Learning and Instruction.- Review of Research.- Types of Computer Graphics.- Graphics Workstations.- Graphics Software Categories and Capabilities.- A Framework for Student Applications.- Student Applications in Science Learning.- Directions for Future Research.- References.