Infographic

Purpose

Infographics are visually appealing, easy-to-read flyers that present data accurately and ethically. This assignment will enhance your analytic, creative, and presentation skills through a nontraditional final project that can be accessed for years to come: an infographic. We live in an advancing technological world where people seek to gain information quickly. By creating an infographic, you will develop your own informed opinions about a controversial issue and convey your evidence-based conclusions to others.

Fellow instructors: You are welcome to adapt from my assignment, but please modify for your own courses. I strongly recommend creating your own examples and tutorial videos for your courses. I promise, it will be super helpful for you to understand how to use Canva and answer students' questions.

Getting Started

Look at my example infographic on Prison Nurseries or on COVID-19 in Prisons. I made both using Canva. The GIF to the left also displays the nurseries infographic. See how it is meant to be a long skinny flyer two-sided.

Now look at this example of a "bad" infographic. Can you see the difference between the first and second one? Which one seems more convincing? The first one! It is visually appealing and contains data/claims from reputable sources. We know the information is reputable because it is cited.

Fellow Instructors: You're welcome to adapt this assignment, but I strongly recommend creating your own infographic example(s) specific to your class.

There are various free, easy-to-use (but with limited features) online platforms. I recommend Canva, but there are other platforms such as Piktochart, Venngage, or Easelly. There are also blank PowerPoint (hit "download" in the top right to save a copy for yourself) and Google Slide templates available for you to copy/download. These work as well, but have less built in design tools.

No matter what platform you end up choosing to complete this assignment, I recommend checking out Canva for inspiration. Go to Canva and select "create a design" then choose "infographic." There will be numerous templates to choose from with great color schemes. Notice how Canva uses color to portray meaning. Sections will be divided by different colors. The colors of font will vary depending on if it is a header or regular text. These cues help guide the reader.

Here is a tutorial video made by me focusing on Canva and Powerpoint to help you. I'm also including a video tutorial about using Canva.

Tasks

Out of 100 points, you'll be graded on the following components:

Content

Choose a topic in corrections that is relatable to our state/city. Imagine you are presenting this topic to someone who has little to no background in criminal justice. You may choose from the following topics:

Death penalty
Trying juveniles as adults (transfer laws)
Solitary confinement
Prison labor
Bail
Treating those with mental health issues in the correctional system
Reentry barriers (collateral consequences)
Voting restrictions
Registries for those convicted of sexual offenses
Racial disparities in sentencing outcomes/incarceration
Mass Incarceration (suggestions to reduce imprisonment rates/increase public safety)

If you'd like to use a different topic, please just email me for approval. I want to make sure the topic you choose will be a good fit for the assignment.

Your infographic must contain the following information about your topic:

A title
Background information

- Define your topic/issue.
- Provide some relevant statistics/figures related to the topic.
- Give some context on the topic in your home state.

- Explain why this topic is important or controversial. This could be in the form of pros and cons or lay out the relevant information.

Solution or Recommendation

- Provide your proposed solution to the issue and/or your specific recommendation for the U.S. and/or your home state.

You can provide your own headings and sections to fit your topic.

There is no word-length on the infographic, however, there must be enough information to inform the public with little-to-no background in corrections and to make a compelling argument for your stance. The writing style should be professional and in third person (no “I” statements).

Grading Criteria (0-20 points):

A controversial topic related to corrections was chosen (5 points)
The infographic contains the required information above (10 points)
The writing is professional, third person (5 points)

Visual Appeal

To achieve visual appeal, cohesive colors and font should be used. Font should be legible and easy to read. Do not use below 10 point font besides in your footnote with references. Remember, this is intended to be a printed flyer. Your reader cannot zoom in.

Headings should have larger bold font. The infographic should have clearly delineated sections based upon the major content areas. The flow should be easy to follow.

Grading Criteria: (0-20 points):

Font and colors were used that are complimentary and easy to read (10 points)
Headings, colors, or shapes are used to denote clear sections throughout the infographic (10 points)

Reputable Sources

What makes an infographic an infographic is the info! You must use reliable sources and cite them. Reputable sources include your textbook, peer-reviewed journal articles, credible news outlets (e.g., the Wichita Eagle), and non-partisan (meaning not affiliated with a political group) research resources (e.g., The Sentencing Project, Vera Institute of Justice, Pew Research Center, Prison Policy Initiative, or The Marshall Project). Your interactivities provided you with statistics and reliable information on the topics above! Use them!

If you google "pros and cons" on your topic, non-reputable sources will come up. These websites will list pros and cons with no links to actual research. They are based upon someone's insider knowledge and are not credible. You must find sources of information based upon outsider knowledge, or research. In this example, you can see that there are not links or references to actual research.

Now, this isn't to say you can't use a quote from someone with direct experience. Take a look at this infographic on dog training programs made by a former student. She found a quote from an incarcerated man who participated in a rehabilitation program. That was a great addition! But, she also had plenty of outsider knowledge to back up the quote.

Grading Criteria (0-20 points):

The information cited is from reputable sources (20 points)

Charts

Charts and images are a great way to convey information in a visually appealing way.

You must include at least one chart must be used with data to show the extent of the issue. These charts can be pre-existing, or made by the student. Graphs/charts must be directly relevant to the issue. However, you want to make sure you understand and interpret charts correctly.

Here is a great tutorial:

Images

Include at least one other graphic, such as clipart, icons, or photographs.

The one drawback of Canva is that many of their images are not free. You can always look up your own images and upload them. If you choose the paid images in Canva, this will have a watermark on the images when you download them. You can find free images on Google, or better yet free image sites like Pexels.

Images must be directly relevant to the issue. If your topic is on mass incarceration, does it make sense to have an image of a dog? Probably not. Also, be mindful of the images you choose. For example, if your topic is the death penalty, is showing a dead body the right message you want to convey?

Grading Criteria (0-20 points):

The infographic has at least one data visual (10 points)
The infographic has at least one other image (5 points)
The images are clear and do not have watermarks (5 points)

Citations

I know, you thought making an infographic would help avoid having to cite. Sadly, it is necessary, so I and your audience can see that you got your information from reputable sources.

All citations must be in APA Format.

All statements that are not common knowledge or the students’ own thoughts must be cited in-text. For example: _____(Author, Year) or Author (Year)_______.

All in-text citations must be linked to a full-text citation in the references at the end of the infographic at the bottom of the last page. To create a footnote for your references, you can add a different colored box and add a textbox over it. Then, type/paste your citations into the textbox. You do not need DOIs.

Pre-existing graphs/charts must be cited in the references under “image sources” or right underneath the image. Images must be cited in the references under “image sources” or right underneath the image that were not accessed from the infographic platform (Canva, Venngage, ect.).

Here is a video tutorial on citing in APA and an APA citation generator.

Grading Criteria (0-15 points):

All sources are cited in the text (5 points)
All sources are cited in the full reference list at the bottom back page (5 points)
APA format was used (5 points)

Meme with Grumpy cat: "I don't like APA style et al"

Format

Typically, infographics are vertical and are 600 wide X 2000 pixels long or about 4.5 inches wide by 11 inches long. You can use up to two sides, front and back. Your infographic should not be longer than two sides. You can use Canva's templates as mentioned above.

Grading Criteria (0-5 points):

The infographic is about 4.5 inches wide X 11 inches long, no longer than two sides (5 points)

Submitting

You can work with a partner. Only one of you needs to submit. Please include both your names on the infographic or in the comments when you submit.

The infographic should be downloaded and submitted through Blackboard as a PNG or JPEG file (not PDF!!). To download your infographic in Canva, click the download (arrow) icon in the top right corner (see screenshot). Please do not submit through Canva.

In Powerpoint, you can go to "File>Export>File Format>PNG."

If you are unable to do that, send me the link in the Blackboard text submission box.

Your infographics are due the final week of the course

You may also submit a first draft via Blackboard and I will give you feedback.

Criteria for Success

The best infographics will address all of the required components above. They will be visually appealing with concise evidence-based information.

Importantly, have fun! I chose this assignment over exams or papers to allow for creativity and self-expression.

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