Many of us are aware that faculty members tend to teach the way they like to learn, but the larger populations we teach have a variety of learning preferences that may not match ours. Students are multimodal learners with a combination of learning styles, but most benefit from inclusion of visual representations. Do we present material in a variety of formats?

As people spend more time using multimedia with sound and animation over print-based text, there is an increasing need to utilize graphic representations to help students understand material. Were you intrigued by the image to the right? Combining text with graphics may grab students’ interest and activate their prior knowledge about a topic as they predict what the text will be about in relation to the accompanying visual.

If you are a faculty member who may need to carve out time to integrate multiple modes of presenting material to students to increase accessibility, the GEC course Brian Cremins is teaching this fall, Comic Books and Visual Literacy in the College Classroom will provide you with that opportunity. If you are on the fence, please register now. (Update: registration now closed; registration deadline September 21, 2017.)

Want to explore research on faculty learning styles and student learning? This study asserts that “A mismatch between the learning style of faculty and students has been shown to increase the disparity between how faculty teach and how students learn. This mismatch results in an ineffective learning process in the classroom.” The Role of Learning Styles in the Teaching/Learning Process.

Looking for recommendations on how to accommodate various learning styles? Check out this resource.

If you have any questions about the course, please contact Brian Cremins, English, at bcremins@harpercollege.edu. For questions and more information about GECs, please contact the Academy at academy@harpercollege.edu.