Students draw to learn about water

Wed, Jul 29, 2009 (12:55 p.m.)

The Alexander Dawson Foundation’s six-week summer program for gifted Clark County public school students, “Water: Science and Culture in a Changing Climate,” is incorporating a new system of note taking—teaching students to take notes graphically as experts from all sides of the water issue in southern Nevada present their views on the topic. Nick Payne, a graphic facilitator from the United Kingdom, encourages students to capture discussion content using visuals and organization in a pictorial way. The students draw what they’re learning in bold colors and big pictures instead of writing traditional notes. “The kids become more engaged taking graphic notes rather than just writing it down,” Payne said. “If you have kids recording their lessons it completely changes the relationship between the teacher and the student, for the better.”

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. See all Comments »

1. By Deb_F

   July 30, 2009

   3:49 p.m.

   Flag

   Using graphic images for learning is well established in education best practices (see info re: Project CRISS: Santa, Havens, & Valdes 2004 or Robert Marzano's work). For many students, it's a far more effective means of locking content into long term memory. Great stuff!

2. By tnoeth

   July 31, 2009

   11:04 a.m.

   Flag

   Many students are visual learners. This method is the same as Tony Buzan from the 60's. He has written a book on mind mapping. There is one specifically for kids, called Mind Mapping for Kids. He also runs seminars where one can learn how to use mind mapping.
   My students love this method for taking notes and brainstorming ideas.

3. By DawsonCenter

   Aug. 5, 2009

   6:55 p.m.

   Flag

   Deb F and tnoeth: We loved to see your comments, and welcome more. This visual essay cannot give a full picture of what we are doing, but you should know that it is quite distinct from both Mind Mapping and Project CRISS. We are looking forward to presenting our findings more formally.