DOES USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS HELP STUDENT UNDERSTANDING IN SCIENCE
INSTRUCTION?
Karen Moody
May 2003
Background: marine biologist (mid-life career change)
Educational interests: to pass on my excitement and interest in science, especially to groups of students
who are traditionally absent from the sciences as adults.
“Life work” questions:
Where does science instruction break down?
Where in the system do kids start to be excluded?”
How can I ensure that I give all of my students the opportunity to enjoy science as much as I have
throughout my life?”
Coursework taught me:
the buzz-word in science education: “inquiry-based learning”
students make discoveries for themselves by exploration of science materials.
Student teaching taught me:
Active engagement in activities is not enough.
Students seemed to be getting bogged down in the “how” to conduct the experiments
Students were not seeing the “why” - not making connections.
Special needs students (i.e. ESOL) were being left behind.
Action research: using illustrations during teaching to increase understanding
Idea source: an ESOL workshop
Illustrations help ESOL students make connections between language and concepts
I thought it might also:
- assist my students with reading issues
- assist all my students with the “how”, to free them up to think about the “why”
Questions:
1. How does the use of illustrations in science instruction affect student understanding of the processes
involved in scientific investigation?
2. How does the use of illustrations in science instruction affect student understanding of the content
involved in scientific investigation?
3. How does the use of illustrations in science instruction affect student understanding of the specific
vocabulary involved in scientific investigation?
Classroom environment:
5th grade class, in a portable, 19 full time students, 3 mainstreamed students special ed students
(half and half male and female; 1/3 African American, 1/3 Hispanic, 1/3 remaining included Caucasian,
African, middle Eastern, and Asian; ¼ receive ESOL (2 spoke almost no English)
My research
Data collected: anecdotal records, artifacts from class discussions, student science journals, video,
student quizzes, student questionnaire
Preliminary work:
Does having the students summarize instructions in writing help them understand the experimentation
process? (Process: Construct a compass.) (anecdotal records, student science journals)
Findings: Very time consuming. Possibly useful for teaching summarizing skills. Not recommended for
everyday use.
Does having the teacher verbally summarize the directions step-by-step help the students understand the
experimentation process? (Process: Create a wire-coil electromagnet.) (anecdotal records, student science
journals)
Findings: Less chaos in the classroom (some students freed to make connections), but students not given
the freedom to explore.
Do illustrations help students understand the process of their experiments?
Process: Construct a bolt-coil electromagnet. (anecdotal records, class discussion)
Findings: Helped ESOL students a lot, surprised to find that all students referred to illustrations, were
able to complete experiment in timely manner, and have a fruitful discussion at the end
Process: Construct a motor with an electromagnet and spinning compass (anecdotal records)
Findings: Not as successful - this experiment required construction of fussy moving parts, which were not
readily demonstrable in the illustrations
Process: Test the solar collecting ability of soil, sand and water (illustrated instructions), and the solar
collecting ability of black versus white water heaters (written instructions) (anecdotal notes, student
questionnaire)
Findings: I noted that it took students less time to set up the experiment with the illustrated instructions,
but only half of the students noted that the illustrations were more helpful to them
Do illustrations help students understand the vocabulary related to their experiments?
Content: Parts and use of a microscope (student quiz)
Findings: was very helpful in learning the vocabulary (all students were successful)
Do illustrations help students understand the content in their experiments?
Content: What are the components of a motor? What makes a motor spin? (student science journals)
Findings: Students were able to adequately describe process, but generally did not make extensions into
content.
Content: How can we use length and position of shadows to determine time on a sundial? (videotape of
discussion, student quiz)
Findings: About half of the students actively participated in the conversation, about 2/3 of the students
demonstrated understanding of concepts on the quiz
Conclusions
 Illustrations are highly effective in teaching science-related vocabulary,

Illustrations are very effective (and a time-saver) in having the students follow the process of
setting up an experiment (although less effective when trouble-shooting moving parts is required)

Illustrations are not as effective at helping the students directly comprehend the content contained
in the science experiments (without additional scaffolding)