The Importance of Visual Communication

What kind of learner are you? Do you need to write or draw out ideas when studying? Do you prefer a chart or a graph to a paragraph of information? If so, you may very well be a visual learner. In 1992, Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills suggested the VARK modalities based on their observations of students and educators. They proposed that there were four primary learning styles: visual (V), aural (A), reading and writing (R ), and kinesthetic (K). The most common of these learning styles is visual learning, which is the preferred learning technique for about 65% of the population. Since this learning style is so predominant among students, it is unsurprising that teachers commonly use visual learning. But how can students utilize visual learning and communication in their own projects?

There are many types of visual communication.

 Proper communication is a necessity in almost any role and the addition of visuals can be found in many instances. An executive may use line graphs to convince colleagues that a business move is profitable. A doctor may use a diagram of the human body to explain a procedure to a patient. In an academic setting, students may use visuals in presentations and papers.  However, an issue that arises in an academic environment is the difference in expectations from one class to another. The communication practices in a composition class, for example, are drastically different from those in a science class. Not only do the written communication styles vary, but the uses for visuals are precisely defined. Erin Zimmerman outlines these specific uses in her 2017 study on the use of visuals across disciplines. 

“...The ways visuals are covered in composition classrooms and textbooks are limited by the outcomes of the classes themselves: visuals tend to be used as a tool for learning and organizing ideas, trying out new genres or media, or as an artifact to be read or analyzed.” In my experience with composition textbooks, visuals such as Venn diagrams or outline examples are used. These books also tend to focus more on discursive evidence than visual evidence, so visuals are few and far between.

Science textbooks, on the other hand, rely heavily on visual communication. In higher-level academics and research, visual interpretations of data are expected in almost all scientific papers. These graphs and charts complement the research and offer further verification of results. 

   Obviously, we cannot discuss visual communication without acknowledging a frequently used tool: pictures. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Pictures can be used to supplement information or they can function as the main attraction. The use of pictures in news articles, for example,  draws in readers and can evoke an emotional response depending on the subject matter. An image might be used for a positive effect, making the reader feel happy or entertained. Images might also be used to express the severity of a situation, causing the reader to feel upset or stressed.

How can students use visuals?

Academically, students are expected to be proficient in many forms of writing. Visual tools, if used correctly, can benefit a paper or project. If you were writing about a charitable organization and the good it does for your community, perhaps it would be wise to include an image of volunteers hard at work. This would most likely elicit a positive response from your audience. The inclusion of visuals can also increase the number of readers. Statistically speaking, content that includes visuals gets a higher number of views than content without visuals.

 Perhaps you’re crafting an informative essay on the effects of various teaching methods on children’s reading abilities. Would a graph of this information add to the paper or detract from it? For a less formal essay, a more simplistic representation of data may be preferable, such as a pie chart. The inclusion of such a visual may even be unnecessary, depending on the context. The audience must also be taken into account. Suppose you intend to publish your essay in an academic journal or a more professional publication. In that case, the inclusion of graphs makes more sense since the primary audience would be educators, and they may wish to utilize the data. If you were to publish it in a more casual form, such as a magazine or local newspaper, the audience would be much broader and likely less interested in exact data.

 Maybe your writing is focused more on science. If you are writing a research paper that contains specific testing methods, would a picture of the set-up aid readers in their understanding of your work? In most of these writings, both pictures and diagrams are used to supplement the research, so it would be fitting to include these visual tools. In lower-level science classes, a fair amount of emphasis is placed on the ability to determine the best visual representation of your research. It is a crucial part of scientific communication.

In conclusion, the use of visuals can have many positive effects. They can aid in readers’ comprehension by breaking down the written information into a more digestible form, lessening frustration in your audience. They can be used to further verify results in research, whether it be science-based or another branch of academia. The right images can be used to entice readers or to sway opinions. When used appropriately and in accordance with the expectations of your audience, visuals can be a powerful tool in writing.

For more information:

Fleming, Neil D. & Mills, Colleen, Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection (1992). To Improve the Academy. 246. 

Zimmerman, Erin. Locating Visual Communication Across Disciplines: How Visual Instruction in Composition Textbooks Differs From That in Science-writing Textbooks. Across the Disciplines. 17(1). 59-80

VARK website:https://vark-learn.com/