Abstract:
With the implementation of the new 3-3-4 system, first year HKIEd students are required to study an array of General Education and co-curricular learning courses. To learn and master a diversity of subject-matters in a short period of time is very challenge, especially to students who are with weak English background and taking EMI courses. As textual format is dominant in course materials, the success of learning is largely determined by students’ language and reading proficiency (Thomas & Mckay, 2010). To promote effective learning and minimize the confounding effect of language proficiency on learning, it is suggested the use of graphic novel (also known as comics) techniques in developing course materials. In this project, the project team will evaluate the pedagogical value of graphic novel using the subject pool of the BEd core course ‘Basic Psychology for Educators’ which has a huge enrollment of students from various faculties. First, teaching staff and second year students from the Department of Psychology Studies will work with student artists to create a set of innovative course materials with the use of graphic novel. Next, the project team will conduct a randomized-controlled-trial experiment to evaluate the effect of graphic novels on learning outcomes and motivation. Moreover, we will conduct a series of interviews to collect opinions from teaching staff and students on the use of graphic novel. The results and the innovative teaching materials will be disseminated through various outlets such as seminars, exhibitions, conferences and publications.
Code:
T0122
Principal Project Supervisors:
Keywords provided by authors:
Subjects:
Start Date:
01 Aug 2013
End Date:
31 Jul 2014
Status:
Completed
Result:
The project team employed scientific theories in Cognitive and Educational Psychology to develop a set of innovative course materials and test the effectiveness of the graphic-novel format of presentation by vigorous research. They had figure out ways that courses materials of EMI courses can be perceived as more user-friendly. They had identified and summarized effective ways to transform textual information of the subject-matter into graphic novels. The result facilitated the synergy of students from Education programmes and non-Education programmes, and it provided guidelines that help bridge communication between the course tutors and graphic novel artists.
Various disseminations e.g. exhibition, seminar and publications were well-received by staff and students within the Institute. Attendees of our seminar and visitors to the exhibitions include professors, teaching fellows, postgraduate and undergraduate students from almost all the faculties at HKIEd. They had expressed interest in using graphic novel in their teaching. With the promotion of our project via the website of Faculty of Education and Human Development and the Facebook page of the Department of Psychological Studies, the project team had also drawn attention from educators outside HKIEd and overseas. These educators have made request for copies of the manual and related publications.
Impact:
The effectiveness of learning with graphic novels is evident from the empirical findings of the experiment and the interviews with teachers and students. Data has shown that in line with our hypotheses, teaching materials in the form of graphic novels can enhance reading comprehension performances. Students who learnt new topics in Psychology by reading graphic novels indicated that they would like to consult further references. Student shared in interviews that they believed organizing knowledge with a combination of textual and non-textual information was an effective strategy for revision. Our interviewees also provided their views on the conditions under which graphic novel can be an effective medium of instruction. The results from our experiment showed that students with different levels of language proficiency could benefit from the use of graphic novel. All participants demonstrated better retention of information after reading our graphic novels, as compared to reading pure text.
Deliverables:
Teaching and Learning Resources/ Materials
Wong, S. W. L. (2014). A self-administered graphic novel usage questionnaire (Teacher’s and student’s version)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/6a1abbe2-3c19-44cc-acdb-ef81...
Wong, S. W. L. (2014). Graphic novel induced learning motivation questionnaire.https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/b5d5317c-6738-4d7a-808c-e45b...
黃緯立及周詠妍(2014)，以漫畫作認真的教學。良友之聲，2014年12月。https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/f82d6e8e-da21-4339-bb7a-7ca0...
Books / Book Chapters / Journal Articles / Conference Papers
Wong, S. W. L. (2014). When a teacher met a cartoonist. Hong Kong : Department of Psychological Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education.https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/4ffcadfe-e704-424c-937b-3f7d...
Miao, H. Y., & Wong, S. W. L. (2014). Can cognitive style predict language proficiency? Self-rated questionnaire versus performance-based measure. Paper presented at the 2014 Hong Kong Psychological Society Annual Conference, Hong Kong.https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/71519980-6bc6-4d7c-8345-8f6b...
Seminars/Presentations/Sharing Sessions
Wong, S. (2014, September). Enhancing learning outcomes and motivation by application of graphic novel in the classroom. Paper presented at the Teaching Development Grants (project code: T0122) seminar on 17 September 2014, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China. (No of participants: 35) https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/2bbaaac4-4ee0-4a61-abbf-4037...
Wong, S. (2014, September). Teaching Development Grants Exhibition: When Psychology meets comics: comic-style teaching materials on Psychology on 18-19 September 2014, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China.https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/efe3bb67-bee0-4384-b52d-ff94...
Website
A website on the project: The enhancement of Learning Outcomes and Motivation Using Graphic Novels in Course Materials Development: A Validation Study https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/1d01c42e-960f-4616-b568-af6d...
Financial Year:
2012-13
Type:
TDG