The Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation (OIEE) created the following to aid instructors in selecting and/or designing assignments to assess Visual Communication.
To ensure the achievement of these objectives, each of these communication modes is treated as a separate learning outcome, with each requiring coverage in all core courses.
¹ 19 Tex. Admin. Code §4.28 (2021).
Definition
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board states that the Texas Core Curriculum objective of Communication is “to include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication.”¹ Visual Communication refers specifically to the purposeful delivery and organization of ideas in visual mediums, adapted to purpose and audience. Instructors may assess Visual Communication through either the creation of original visuals or the interpretation and analysis of existing visuals.To ensure the achievement of these objectives, each of these communication modes is treated as a separate learning outcome, with each requiring coverage in all core courses.
¹ 19 Tex. Admin. Code §4.28 (2021).
Visual Communication Rubrics & Assignment Checklist
Instructors may have students demonstrate their skills by either creating or interpreting a visual for assessment.
The Importance of Visual Communication
- Enhances student engagement and motivation.
- Supports multimodal communication competence, catering to various learning styles.
- Strengthens essential communication skills in academic and professional contexts.¹
- Encourages creativity and innovation while enhancing comprehension and retention of complex information.²
¹ Association of College & Research Libraries. (2011). ACRL visual literacy competency standards for higher education. American library association. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy
² Guo, D., McTigue, E., Matthews, S., & Zimmer, W. (2020). The impact of visual displays on learning across the discipline: A systematic review. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 627–656. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09523-3
Best Practices for Assessing
- Share the rubric with students and highlight components as necessary to be included in the assignment. Rubrics or grading criteria should assess not only the aesthetic quality of visuals but also their clarity, relevance, and ethical use.¹
- Introduce rhetorical analyses of visuals (considering audience, purpose, medium, and genre) to help students interpret and create visuals with intention.²
- Clarify expectations using rubric-based guidance, e.g., what an effective visual looks like (appropriate use of color or typography, organizing principles) or what to avoid (unnecessary complexity, ineffective design elements, cluttered layouts).
- Break the assignment into stages, such as:
- Determining the purpose (inform, persuade, entertain)
- Selecting an appropriate topic for the audience and context
- Determining an appropriate medium for the message
- Reviewing the visual or interpretation for aesthetic presentation (e.g., refining pixelated images or language choices)
- Provide examples of strong and weak visuals as well as their interpretations.
Recommended Assignment Types
Individual student submissions of:- Slide decks (with or without recorded oral delivery) with a clearly delivered central message
- Skits, dances, or other performances with strong visual components
- Infographics, zines, or newsletters
- Graphs or charts that are well-labeled
- Video essays
- Essays or exam questions asking students to interpret a visual (e.g., films, charts, graphs, performances)
¹ Association of College & Research Libraries. (2011). ACRL visual literacy competency standards for higher education. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy
² Texas A&M University Writing Center. (n.d.). Analyzing visual images. https://writingcenter.tamu.edu/writing-speaking-guides/analyzing-visual-images
Visual Communication Assignment Prompt Template
The following template offers guidance for designing an assignment that demonstrates the core objective of Visual Communication. Instructors are encouraged to adapt it to their discipline.Purpose: Set a purpose for the assignment (e.g., informing, persuading, entertaining, or inspiring).
Topic/Central Message: Provide a topic or give parameters for students to select a topic.
Audience: Instruct students to communicate to an audience, such as the instructor, classmates, general public, donors, scientific community, government officials, elementary students, theater audiences, project stakeholders, etc.
Conventions (Creation Rubric): Encourage students to consider the medium's conventions. For example, slide decks generally include images that relate to written text. Video recordings should consider camera angle and background.
Description (Interpretation Rubric): Communicate expectations of describing the visual and/or showing the visual to the audience. For example, if interpreting a piece of artwork, indicate whether the student should include a copy and/or verbally describe it. For interpretations of multimedia works (e.g., film or performances), direct students to explicitly describe visual elements (i.e., not just describe the plot or dialogue).
Evidence (Interpretation Rubric): Communicate your expectations about what types of evidence you want students to include to support their central message and interpretive claims (e.g., scholarship, film stills, or analyses). For interpretations of multimedia works (e.g., film or performances), indicate that students should explicitly interpret visual elements (e.g., use of color as opposed to just interpreting dialogue).
Organization: Clarify expectations about structure. For example, an effective pattern for a slide deck typically includes an introduction, one or more identifiable sections in the body, and a conclusion. Other types of visuals may be enhanced by alternative patterns. For example, graphs or charts may be embedded in a report or included as appendices.
Medium: Communicate expectations about the format. For example, an interpretation of a visual is generally delivered in written or oral form, whereas created visuals may be produced using a variety of media.
Presentation: Set expectations about language choice and/or aesthetic quality of the visual. Encourage students to review their created visual or interpretation for clarity or to incorporate peer review.
