Evaluating comics as pedagogical tools in an undergraduate mathematics course

An example of a comic about vectors from the research project

Grant recipients:

Dan Wolczuk, Faculty of Mathematics

Amanda Garcia, Systems Design Engineering

Joslin Goh, Statistics and Actuarial Science

Giuseppe Sellaroli

(Project timeline: May 2018-April 2019)

Description

The goal of this project is to assess the potential impact that comics can have in undergraduate mathematics courses. A series of comics supplementing the usual course material will be created and incorporated into the MATH 136 course offered in the Spring 2018 term. Data will be collected through LEARN analytics, student surveys, and focus groups to draw a portrait of how students use the comics, perceive them, and learn from them.

Research has shown that comics are beneficial to various aspects of student learning; however, there is little scholarship focusing specifically on university mathematics courses. This project aims to narrow this research gap and to introduce the use of an innovative pedagogical tool designed to augment students’ learning experience.

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