Visualizations help learning

Levin (1987) examined the learning functions of visualizations in text, examined the types of visualizations that can be used of facilitate the students’ learning. They described five categories of functions of pictures in prose, which are “decoration”, “Representation”, “Organization”, “Interpretation”, and “Transformation”.

Decoration is to make texts more attractive but irrelevant to the text. Representation is to illustrate the same story as the text. Organization is to structure coherence of aspects. Interpretation is to clarify abstract concepts. Transformation is to anchor information in the text by linking it to pictures that are easier to remember.

The picture above explains the learning effects of different types of illustrations in textbooks. This picture is a replication from an illustration in the book, "Context and Conceptualization" (Stappers et al., 2005. p. 103).

The latter categories are proved to be more beneficial to effective learning for students (See picture above). The transformation function was found to have a strong effect on learning, but it happens only when the association made by the illustrator is shared by the reader.