WHAT DOES A STUDENT NEED TO KNOW TO READ & WRITE INFOGRAPHICS?

WHAT DOES A STUDENT NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW TO READ AND WRITE INFOGRAPHICS?

What are infographics?   That’s the main question I would ask myself as someone seeing this word for the first time.   “At their core, infographics are a combination of words, numbers, and visual elements” (Turner and Hicks, 2017, p. 62).   As someone who started blogging about a year ago I must say that I’m blown away with how much my blogs lacked.   I had a good argument that was written from a very passionate place but it lacked more elements that I never knew until now.   

     A lot of the writing that I was doing was purely from a personal perspective with little to no reference of other scholars or statistical research.   Designer Gurjot Bhuller explains, “The most important component of an infographic is accurate data… As an organization, you may already have data you can use, you just need to find it and sort it (Turner and Hicks, 2017, p. 62). These are some of the general things a student would need to know to be able to read and write infographics.

    

 When a student begins to craft infographics they must understand how to:

• Insert data, media, and visual design elements in a coherent manner that guides the reader?
• Compose short written text to augment the data, using phrases, sentences, brief paragraphs, bulleted lists, or footnotes?
• Import data and create graphs, charts, percentages, etc.?
• Embed those numerical representations in the infographic?
• Identify the intended audience and desire tone?
• Identify a single, clear claim?
• Design survey and collect data
• Conduct deep internet searches and evaluate sources? (Turner and Hicks, 2017, p. 62)

As I think about my reading of Chapter 4 Argument in the Real World, the main starting point for a students success using infographics should be research.   Although I've stated that the blogs I use to write lacked certain elements, I made sure I was knowledgeable of my claims.   Even though on the surface it appears that infographics are only visual elements, they must also have solid facts and claims.   

     Before a student can even get to a point where they are importing data or creating charts or graphs, or embedding.   They must first understand the topic in discussion.   They must make sure that they have a solid pool of sources available as they begin their arguments.  “Students must be able to deconstruct and craft arguments of substance, so it is important for us to assess Lara’s ability to find and/or generate content for her infographic”  (Turner and Hicks, 2017, p. 74)

Below are some 6 helping things students need to know when working with or creating infographics.

Reference 

Turner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write 

    digital texts: Argument in the real world. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clean up your mess: A guide to visual design for everyone. Clean Up Your Mess - A Guide to Visual Design for Everyone. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.visualmess.com/.

Last Updated April 7th, 2018 05:43 pm. (2018, April 7). Home. InstructionalDesign.org. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.instructionaldesign.org/.