The argument for using infographics is simple. They’re cool. Data and statistics never looked so good. That’s what they said, anyway, and by “they” I mean people between the ages of 14-18. The glorious part of the infograph is that it can serve as a multi-layered argument as well as supplemental text.
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One of the best resources for introducing infographics in class comes from The Learning Network at The New York Times. Their blog post from August of 2010 is a valuable resource when introducing infographics to students. We’ve also discussed implementing infographics when partnering Transcendentalism with Occupy Wall Street. They are powerful classroom resources that engage students and teach them critical thinking.
One of the best features about Good Magazine is their incredible collection of infographics, both static and animated. Teach novels about war like The Things They Carried? Create a modern tie-in by using an infographic about Women & Combat Readiness. Teach the American dream via The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye? Use an infographic entitled “The United States of Unhappy Campers.” Infographics easily partner with core texts and can also supplement student knowledge for those pesky writing prompts that require outside information.
Below are some of the most useful infographics from Good Magazine along with some ideas for how to implement them.
Infographics to teach explicit/implicit argument
Good infographic to implement when teaching current events or A Long Way Gone. You can also use it when teaching a prompt about the moral or ethical debate about charity, such as questions three on the 2005 AP Language and Composition exam.
Have students view and annotate the infographic. You may use the following questions as a starting place for their annotations and/or your class discussion.
- What is the implicit argument about poverty and tourism?
- Identify two trends you see in the infographic based on the data.
- Explain what data you would be interested to see linked to the infographic’s discussion of poverty and explain your reasoning. Think education, jobs, skills, disease, etc.
Good infographic to use when asking students to argue about the responsibility of education. You might consider pairing this with novels like The Catcher in the Rye.
Have students view and annotate the infographic. You may use the following questions as a starting place for their annotations and/or your class discussion.
- Identify two implicit arguments about education over the last forty years.
- Construct an argument about the two highest and lowest wage earning fields based on the data.
- Explain what data you would be interested to see linked to the information provided. Think personal satisfaction, money earning potential, hours per week worked, etc.
Animated Infograpics
Using animated infographics will require students to watch and pause the material several times. You may decide to do this together as a class or have them do it individually on their smartphones, itouches, etc. with headphones.
Many of the SAT/AP prompts ask students to consider the moral “responsibilities” of the individual. An infographic of this nature can help “grow” their knowledge base.
“The Volunteers”
The Volunteers from GOOD.is on Vimeo.
Have students view and annotate the infographic. You may use the following questions as a starting place for their annotations and/or your class discussion.
- Identify one argument each about the following categories: age, type of volunteering, number of individuals involved.
- What data would like you to see included? Explain how this information would enhance understanding. Think specific types of volunteering examples, number of hours worked, etc.
