Are Comic Books an Effective Way to Engage Nonmajors in Learning and Appreciating Science?¹

Abstract

Comic books employ a complex interplay of text and images that gives them the potential to effectively convey concepts and motivate student engagement. This makes comics an appealing option for educators trying to improve science literacy about pressing societal issues involving science and technology. Here, we report results from the first systematic assessment of how a science comic book can affect student learning and attitudes about biology. We used pre- and postinstruction instruments to measure students’ attitudes about biology, attitudes about comics, and content knowledge about evolution before and after using the science comic book Optical Allusions in their classes. On the preinstruction instrument, nonmajors reported the lowest scores on the content test and attitude surveys relative to the other groups. However, on the postinstruction instrument, nonmajors’ content scores and attitudes showed a statistically significant improvement after using the comic book, particularly among those with lower content knowledge at the start of the semester. The improvement in attitudes about biology was correlated to attitudes about comics, suggesting that the comic may have played a role in engaging and shaping student attitudes in a positive way.

The potential of comics in science communication

“…While these studies provide a promising first step toward the understanding of comics as a tool for science education, they all have the limitation of being conducted in classroom settings. Some of the authors rightfully observed that the effects of comics in the classroom may be biased by the novelty effects of comics [Hosler and Boomer, 2011], therefore it would be important for future studies to measure comic literacy and predispositions amongst readers [Caldwell, 2012;Tatalovic, 2009]. More importantly, the goals and settings of science communication are often different from those of classroom education.…”

“…Indeed, the effects of comics may be equivalent to text when readers are required to memorize the material (regardless of the format) but comics could prove to be more effective at engaging occasional readers. This seems a particularly promising application for comics, considering that the few existing studies revealed that students with no prior knowledge of the subject were those who mostly benefited from their use [Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Spiegel et al, 2013] and the suggestion that comics "may enable a wider audience of non-specialists individuals, who do not typically seek out science information, to engage with science-related topics, thus fostering scientific literacy" [Spiegel et al, 2013].…”

“…Few studies so far have attempted to quantify the effects of comics on the communication of science (see Table 1) The goals and settings of these studies were extremely heterogeneous: Hosler and Boomer used comics in place of textbook in evolutionary biology classes for non-majors (N=98) [Hosler and Boomer, 2011]. Spiegel and colleagues compared the effects of comics and essays in teaching concepts of virology to high-school students (N=873) [Spiegel et al, 2013].…”

“…While some scholars [McCloud, 1994;Sousanis, 2015] argued that the juxtaposition of words and pictures in comics achieve effects larger than the sum of its parts, it is not clear if combining storytelling and visualisation techniques is indeed more effective, from a communication perspective. Moreover, while comics have been studied as a tool for classroom education [Aleixo and Norris, 2010;Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Short, Randolph-Seng and McKenny, 2013;Spiegel et al, 2013;Weitkamp and Burnet, 2007], their application to the specific challenges of science communication remain largely unexplored. One of the reasons behind this scarcity of research is probably the lack of an accepted definition of what constitutes a 'comic'.…”

Alter egos: an exploration of the perspectives and identities of science comic creators

“…As the acceptance and celebration of comics continues to grow, experts are increasingly advocating for their use in education [e.g. Mayer et al, 1996;Morrison, Bryan and Chilcoat, 2002;Cheesman, 2006;Hosler and Boomer, 2011;Kobayashi, 2011;Ardasheva et al, 2015], healthcare [e.g. Austin et al, 1995;Houts et al, 2006] and libraries [Meier, 2012].…”