Visual literacy, as used here, refers to the skills which let a person understand and use visuals to communicate his messages and interpret the messages of others. Visual literacy should be important in the curriculum because: 1) children pay more attention to movies and television than they do to teachers; 2) the plethora of visual information…

Though visual literacy is gaining recognition, visual communication is under-utilized by special educators. Children are growing up in a world where much of their learning is visual, and schools which have included visual communication in their curriculums have found that it has enhanced the ability to write, and contributed significantly to…

Visual literacy encompasses the ability to generate and make use of visual images to develop or clarify ideas, as a tool both for conveying information and for creative expression. The usefulness of visual thinking in study skills, problem solving, and living in an increasingly visual society is stressed. (Author/JDD)

Traditional skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic may not be adequate for preparing students to enter today's highly technological and visual society. The role of the art educator is crucial in developing the visual skills which are increasingly necessary in a world of visual communication. (IS)

Most art programs at the secondary level and beyond hope to produce students who can make discriminating aesthetic judgments about many kinds of visual art forms. This paper describes how students judge the art they encounter and suggests how art teachers might improve the quality of their students' responses. (Author/IS)

Discusses the theory and research underlying the use of realistic and compressed images or representational images developed from 1950-80 using print, slides, and film media. Topics include the theories of visual realism, visual realism and instruction, and the foundations of visual compression. (20 references) (KRN)

The interactive multimedia application described here attempts to provide learners and teachers with a common frame of reference for communicating about visual media. The system is based on a list of concepts related to composition, and illustrates those concepts with photographs, paintings, graphic designs, and motion picture scenes. The ability…

The purpose of this in-progress study is to try to find commonalities between visual proficiency and artistic performance. In order to assess visual proficiency, a test of spatial ability is being developed and pilot tested. Student performance on the test will be recorded and examined in relation to two traditional measures of student art…

Organized as a bibliographic essay, this paper examines the many sources available for developing a theory of visual literacy. Several definitions are offered in order to clarify the meaning of the term "visual literacy" so that meaningful research can be conducted on the topic. Based on the review of resources, three recommendations are offered…

A third-year study was made to evaluate visual imagery as an educational technique for effective learning with culturally disadvantaged students. The major objective was to improve self-concept of 9-, 10-, and 11-year-old inner-city pupils using the motivational forces of filmmaking and cultural experiences to improve the ability of the children…

This study discusses a visual communications project designed to develop activities to promote visual literacy at the elementary and secondary school levels. The project has four phases: (1) perception of basic forms in the environment, what these forms represent, and how they inter-relate; (2) discovery and communication of more complex…

Presents an interpretation of the history of the development of visual and verbal language, and argues for the place of electronic technologies of visual and oral languages in the language arts curriculum. (DF)

Investigates the supportive side of current technology in the visual process of learning and the issues instructional designers must address to utilize these capabilities and maximize their effects. Provides an overview of visual memory and discusses information processing and analogic reasoning, cognition and visual information processing, visual…

There are two categories of representations: figurative and non-figurative. Within the category of figurative representations, there are two groups: visuals and graphic symbols. Graphic symbols include pictorial symbols, abstract symbols, and arbitrary symbols. Symbols can be used for identification, overview, supplying instructions, position,…

This paper relates visual literacy to the historical development of art education in the United States, emphasizing the work of Walter Smith, an art educator, during the later nineteenth century. The visual mode of learning, especially drawing, in public schools has been justified as a means to furthering industrialization and as an end in itself,…