Domain D4
Visual Cognition
When does combining words and pictures help — and when does it get in the way?
How learners process diagrams, images and text together; the principles behind effective visual explanations; and why “visual learners” is a misleading idea.
Key claims in this domain
- Interpretation
Verbal and visual representations can support each other when they are well integrated, offering more than one route to an idea.
- Established finding
Labelling students as “visual learners” and tailoring instruction to that label is not supported by evidence.
Modules
- Dual codingPairing words with purposeful visuals — and why it is not about learning styles.Available · draft
- Multimedia design principlesCoherence, signalling, contiguity and segmenting.Planned
- Concept mappingMaking relationships between ideas visible.Planned
- Graphic organisersTimelines, flow charts and comparison grids as thinking tools.Planned
- Generative drawingWhen asking students to draw supports understanding.Planned
- Reading diagramsTeaching students to interpret visual representations.Planned
- Visual learning myths“Visual learners” and other claims the evidence does not support.Planned