A Little Synthesis on GN's and Learning

Here's a link going around from the Free Writing Tips website. If you follow the link and do not get a large sentence reading "Graphic storytelling teaches better than text" (ahem), do a search for a column entitled "Now You See It." The piece details work from studies at Texas Tech, East Carolina, UC Santa Barbara and others that suggests words and images together in comics form help people learn and retain knowledge.

One day enough people will catch on such that articles like this will simply be entitled "Duh: Here We Go Again." But, hey, researchers, keep those studies coming.

Jay Hosler's Article in *Life Science Education* Journal

Click here to read Jay Hosler and K.B. Boomer's article "Are Comic Books an Effective Way to Engage Nonmajors in Learning and Appreciating Science?," recently published in Life Sciences Education, a peer-reviewed journal.

Some VERY intriguing findings!! :)

News From the Comic Book Project

Press Release from the Center for Educational Pathways, headed in part by our good colleague Dr. Michael Bitz (my bold):

The results are in! According to an independent study conducted for the US Department of Education, students across Imperial County, California participated in the Comic Book Project and, as a result, demonstrated significant gains in their English language arts performance. After extensive professional development, classroom teachers engaged students in creating and publishing comics in content area subjects ranging from the Civil War to the water cycle. See excerpts from the students' comics and watch a video about the Imperial County project (bottom right of page in videos section--scroll to USA Project-Comic Books). For more about the Comic Book Project, visit the project website.