Visualizations and Graphic Organizers

Now into the 2nd quarter, you might be looking for a new way for students to take notes, process information, and communicate their own understanding and analysis of your teaching and their learning.

Successful students may be ready for something other than Cornell/STAR notes and struggling students may need a different way to record and construct meaning from new information.

Provide a graphic organizer that perfectly portrays the process exemplified by your studetns' learning or, depending on the skill of your students or the sophistication of the material, allow students to decide on their own how to best graphically organize their thinking and learning.  Both options give students a strong understanding of both the new concept and their own metacognition.

Visualizations and graphic organizers are research proven methods of learning. For me, requiring a concept map added what was missing in my teaching and some of my students’ learning in one of my less engaging units.

A periodic table for Chemistry Teachers and their colleagues across the disciplines

Ralph Lengler and Martin J. Eppler  created a resource Periodic Table of Visualizations that provides various visuals and graphic organizers students can use.  Examples of Data, Information, Concept, Strategy, Metaphor, and Compound visualizatons are provided. Because the methods are categorized, metacognitive language, awareness, and cognition increases. The examples are also categorized by indicating process or structure outlines along with detail and/or overview visualizations. Indicators of convergent or divergent thinking are also noted. 

For more on the very thoughtful way they organized these structures, review their publication Towards a Periodic Table of Visualizations . Though Lengler and Eppler work in the Institute of Corporate Communication, the graphic organizers are useful for teaching and learning with our students.

Employing the best graphic organizers support our students’ growing critical thinking skills, deep understanding of our content, and supports their mastery of the following standards and practices:

ISTE Standards for students:

1. Creativity and innovation:  b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
2. Communication and collaboration:  b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.

Mathematically proficient students  are able to identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships using such tools as diagrams, two-way tables, graphs, flowcharts and formulas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects  2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

2A grades 9-10: Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

2A grades 11-12: Introduce a topic and organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.