Visual Literacy Intervention for Improving Undergraduate Student Critical Thinking of Global Sustainability Issues
Visual Literacy Intervention for Improving Undergraduate Student Critical Thinking of Global Sustainability Issues
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DOI：
10.3390/su122310209
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发表时间：
2020-12
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Sarah E. Krejci;Shirma Ramroop-Butts;Hector N. Torres;R. Isokpehi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Sarah E. Krejci;Shirma Ramroop-Butts;Hector N. Torres;R. Isokpehi
在环境科学课程中促进全球可持续发展需要从基于知识的教学转变为激发高阶认知技能的教学。非专业本科科学课程，例如环境科学，促进学生的批判性思维，以提高对科学信息的吸收并发展理性决策，从而做出更明智的决策。科学、工程、技术和数学 (STEM) 课程在讲座、阅读和作业中广泛依赖视觉效果来提高知识。然而，本科生不会自动获得视觉素养，缺乏教师的干预可能会限制学业成功。在这项研究中，开发了视觉素养干预措施，并在本科生非专业环境科学导论课程的面对面（FTF）和在线部分进行了测试。该干预措施旨在测试和提高三个层面的视觉素养：（1）基本的识别价值观； (2) 中间——识别趋势； (3) 高级——利用数据做出预测或结论。在前测和后测的两个课程部分中，学生回答初级和高级视觉素养问题的能力存在显着差异。与没有视觉素养干预的部分相比，参加面对面课程的学生的考试成绩和中位评估分数明显更高。由于初始干预后视觉素养缺乏强化，在线部分并未显示出视觉素养或学业成功的显着改善。视觉素养干预在提高学生学业成功方面显示出可喜的成果，应考虑在其他普通教育 STEM 课程中实施。
The promotion of global sustainability within environmental science courses requires a paradigm switch from knowledge-based teaching to teaching that stimulates higher-order cognitive skills. Non-major undergraduate science courses, such as environmental science, promote critical thinking in students in order to improve the uptake of scientific information and develop the rational decision making used to make more informed decisions. Science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) courses rely extensively on visuals in lectures, readings and homework to improve knowledge. However, undergraduate students do not automatically acquire visual literacy and a lack of intervention from instructors could be limiting academic success. In this study, a visual literacy intervention was developed and tested in the face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of an undergraduate non-major Introduction to Environmental Science course. The intervention was designed to test and improve visual literacy at three levels: (1) elementary—identifying values; (2) intermediate—identifying trends; and (3) advanced—using the data to make projections or conclusions. Students demonstrated a significant difference in their ability to answer elementary and advanced visual literacy questions in both course sections in the pre-test and post-test. Students in the face-to-face course had significantly higher exam scores and higher median assessment scores compared to sections without a visual literacy intervention. The online section did not show significant improvements in visual literacy or academic success due to a lack of reinforcement of visual literacy following the initial intervention. The visual literacy intervention shows promising results in improving student academic success and should be considered for implementation in other general education STEM courses.