Comics in education:
The potency of the picture story is not a matter of modern theory but of anciently established truth. Before man thought in words, he felt in pictures… It’s too bad for us “literary” enthusiasts, but it’s the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than words. (Sones, 1944, p. 239)
Comics as an educational tool has held the attention of teachers and academia for quite some time now. Coming from a tool to provide a non-animated entertainment to an age where movies are being based on such hit series, comics is a serious multi-million dollar business now. And, all the adulation is well deserved, comics fulfill the inherent ability of humans to visualize something in a better fashion and retain it for a longer period of time.
In Hutchinson’s (1949) experiment with a curriculum built around Puck – the Comic Weekly, 74% of teachers surveyed found comics “helpful for motivation” (p. 244), while 79% claimed comics “increased individual participation” (p. 244). One teacher even complained that comic books made “learning too easy” (Hutchinson, 1949, p. 244). When DC Comics, Thorndike, and Downes introduced their Superman language arts workbook to classrooms, they reported “unusual interest” (Sones, 1944, p.233) among the students, which “presented the annoying difficulty of causing the youngsters to complete a whole week’s task in one evening” (Sones, 1944, p. 233).
Here’s a snippet:
The source:
