How Comics Impact the Process of Instructional Design

Research output: ThesisMaster's Thesis

Abstract

Despite growing evidence and professional consensus of the educational benefits of comics, the medium has not received much explicit attention within instructional design literature. This very lack of attention leaves instructional designers (IDs) and subject matter experts (SMEs) without the necessary means to integrate comics into higher education curriculum. Drawn from theoretical and empirical evidence found in Mayer’s Multimedia Learning (2021) and Cohn’s The Visual Language of Comics (2014), this dissertation explored how incorporating comics as anchor text into three different courses (face-to-face, hybrid, and online) at three different higher education institutions in the Midwest impacted the dynamics of the instructional design process. A qualitative case study methodology that utilized data analysis approaches common in autoethnography and narrative inquiry was used to describe instructional design processes that emphasized multimodal learning. The goals of this dissertation were to identify any potential barriers to utilizing instructional comics, to explore how learners perceive meaningful learning from instructional comics, and to gauge how incorporating instructional comics as anchor text impacts learner satisfaction. Results underscored both the challenges and advantages of using instructional comics in higher education. They revealed how comics utilized as anchor text in lessons influence learner satisfaction, especially in terms of engagement and understanding of curricular concepts. The data identified how instructional design processes are affected by comics as well as how designing with comics impacted the participant SMEs’ pedagogical practices. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of best practices for IDs and SMEs who wish to adopt instructional comics in higher education classrooms.Keywords: comics, instructional design, multimedia learning, anchor text, case study
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationUnited States -- Indiana
Publisher
Print ISBNs9798383582190
StatePublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Anchor text
  • Case study
  • Comics
  • Multimedia learning
  • Pedagogy
  • Instructional design
  • Multimedia communications
  • Curriculum development
  • Film studies
  • Communication
  • 0727:Curriculum development
  • 0447:Instructional Design
  • 0900:Film, television, and media studies
  • 0459:Communication

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