Using Graphic Novels To Communicate Engineering Experiences In An Urban Middle School
Jennifer Atchison, Dorothea Holmes-Stanley, Adam Fontecchio, Eli Fromm · 2020
Graphic novels are a rich visual medium through which reluctant or struggling writers can communicate their understanding of scientific/engineering content in a creative personal narrative.As part of a National Science Foundation sponsored program, an engineering graduate student was paired with an urban middle school teacher to develop and implement engineering and science-based modules to enhance the curriculum.In this activity, students were asked to create graphic novels based on their experiences in these modules, science fair activities, or a topic in the science curriculum they found fascinating.The middle school participants were 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science and technology fields.Seventy percent of the participants qualified for Title I remediation and the school ranked in the top 12% of the bottom tier in the district-wide standardized test.The poor scores were attributed to the students' inability to decode the test questions and lack of context in the existing science curriculum.Integrating language and graphic arts into the science curriculum is critical to helping the students learn how to effectively organize, synthesize, and communicate knowledge.In our case, the act of organizing a story with a beginning, middle, and an end helped students put their experiences in science/engineering activities in proper context.It also provided a medium for the students to express their thoughts, excitement, and discoveries via a less formal document.The illustrations in the novels allowed the students to capture the details of what they had observed during an activity even though they may not have the vocabulary to describe what they experienced.Subsequent editing of the sketches for inclusion in the novel provided an opportunity for the students to explore each other's results and observations.Moreover, since space was limited, they had to defend their decision to include some details while omitting others.The finished novels demonstrated the student's mastery of the content through accurate visual depictions of the processes used in scientific discovery and innovation.The student authors were invited to read their novels with the students in the lower grades to promote science/engineering literacy throughout the school.The module described above outlines the process by which students in grades 6, 7, and 8 created graphic novels with science and engineering themes.The lesson plans followed the recommendations outlined on the National Association of Comics Art Educator's website for the process of making a graphic novel.Pre and post activity assessments were administered to evaluate the student's attitude towards science and engineering, as well as for evidence of understanding and application of the scientific method.