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.
The GIF to the left displays an infographic I made. See how it is meant to be a long skinny flyer two-sided.
Skills you'll learn along the way
Critical thinking
Digital literacy
Finding and evaluating research
Summarizing and analyzing research, including statistics and data
Creativity and graphic design
Problem-solving
Policy analysis
These skills are transferable to your future careers and can even be listed on your resume!!
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.
Watch this short 1 minute video for some words of encouragement about infographics!
Getting Started: Look at Examples
Many of you likely have never heard of an infographic before, and that's normal! To start, take a look at my examples and student examples. Pay close attention to how they are structured, the content they contain, and how information is cited.
Click on the image to see the full infographic (front and back)
Sharing with permission from my awesome former students for my current/future students in this class!!
Now for fun.... look at this example of a "bad" infographic. Can you see the difference between the examples above and this one? Which one seems more convincing? All the other examples are visually appealing, contain data/claims from reputable sources, and are well-organized. We know the information is reputable because it is cited. The bad example does not have any of these features.
Choose your platform
There are various free, easy-to-use (but with limited features) online platforms. I recommend Canva. All of the examples above were made using Canva. There are other platforms such as Piktochart, Venngage, or Easelly. There are also blank PowerPoint (click "download" in the top right to make a copy for yourself to edit) 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.
Canva Template
Canva has many graphics and options available to anyone, BUT I have an educational account with access to almost all images and features. I created a template for you. If you use my template, you will have access to all the features, too!
Here is a tutorial video about using Canva to create infographics:
Here is a tutorial video about using Canva to create graphs:
Tasks
Submit a plan for your infographic on Blackboard. There, you will discuss the topic and where you will obtain your reputable information.
After you have approval on your plan from Dr. Boppre, complete your final infographic and submit on Blackboard.
For your final infogrpahic, you'll be graded on the following components:
Content
Choose a topic that is 1) related to the course and 2) related to your state/city/community. Imagine you are presenting this topic to someone who has little to no background in criminal justice.
For each course, I have recommended topics:
Topics for VCST4390: Violence Against Women
Intimate partner violence/abuse
Sexual assault
Human trafficking
Cybervictimization
Forced marriage
Sex work
State violence against women (policing or prison/jail)
Women's incarceration
For any of these topics, you must discuss the gendered nature of this topic (i.e., increased risks or specific contexts for women, LGBQ, or trans people). You can focus on specific populations or contexts (e.g., among racially marginalized groups, the military, college campuses).
Topics for VCST4383/5383: Family Violence
Intimate Partner Violence/Abuse
Child abuse (must link to abuse within the family)
Elder abuse
Sibling abuse
Child welfare
Fostercare to prison pipeline
Children of incarcerated parents
Animal abuse/pets and IPV
You can focus on specific types, characteristics, or populations (e.g., gender or cultural differences, differences across socioeconomic status, among women of color or LGBTQ+ people).
Other topics will need approval via Blackboard. Please feel free to email or message me if you want feedback on an idea!! I am happy to chat!
You cannot choose the abuse to prison pipeline or prison nurseries because my examples already cover that.
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 the U.S. or your home state/community.
Explain why this topic is important or controversial.
Solution or Recommendation(s)
Provide your proposed recommendation(s) to address the issue
Recommendations can include specific policy changes, contact information for local service providers, or instructions on how to volunteer or get involved! I advise including 3-5 recommendations/resources.
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 topic related to the class 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.
Try to avoid large areas of blank, unused space. Be intentional about how you use the space.
Grading Criteria: (0-20 points):
Font and colors were used that are complimentary and easy to read (5 points)
Headings, colors, or shapes are used to denote clear sections throughout the infographic (10 points)
Space is used intentionally (5 points)
Reputable Sources
What makes an infographic an infographic is the info! You must use reliable sources and cite them. Reputable sources include materials from class (i.e., reports, articles), peer-reviewed journal articles, credible news outlets and non-partisan (meaning not affiliated with a political group) research resources (e.g., The World Health Organization, 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! Try to cite the original sources, not my powerpoints/videos.
In Blackboard, there is a folder in the navigation pane under Resources called "Library Resources." That folder will also provide you guidance in finding sources for your infographic.
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.
NOTE: If you don't cite your sources both in-text and in references, I won't know whether the information you used is reputable!!
Grading Criteria (0-20 points):
The information cited is from reputable sources (20 points)
Visuals
Data visuals
You must include at least one chart or graph with data to show the extent of the issue. These charts can be pre-existing, or made by you. Sometimes, the images in reports are tricky to save, so I take a screenshot and crop it.
Check out the video above about how to make your own charts in Canva!! 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 about picking the right charts to represent data
Here is a tutorial video about using Canva to create graphs
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):
At least one data visual (10 points)
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)_______. You can also footnote your citations (small numbers corresponding to the references).
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 footer 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 platform.
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 of the image or final page (5 points)
APA format was used (5 points)
Here is a video tutorial on how to cite using APA 7th Edition
Here is my favorite APA citation generator.
Format
Typically, infographics are vertical and are 800 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 (these file types are easiest to share in your e-portfolio)! To download your infographic in Canva, click the download (arrow) icon in the top right corner (see screenshot).
For multiple images, a "Zip folder" may download from Canva. If you double click on the folder, the files will open. You can upload the Zip folder or individual images.
If you are unable to do that, send me the link in the Blackboard text submission box.
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.
Criteria for Success
The best infographics will address all of the required components above. They will define and describe a topic related to family violence/violence against women. They will be visually appealing with concise evidence-based information to build awareness about social issues. They will contain at least one data visual (chart or graph) and one image. They will cite all sources and provide policy recommendations.
The expected time needed to complete this assignment is 9 hours. This includes gathering your information from reputable sources then summarizing/compiling your information into your infographic.
Importantly, have fun! I chose this assignment over exams or papers to allow for creativity and self-expression.