Presented on Brock University Teaching Assistant Day, September 7, 2013. This hands-on-workshop was designed to exercise participants' visual brains to tap into creative ways of listening and communicating. We covered note taking strategies for teachers and students and how to use visuals in seminar as a creative tool for engagement.

1. Visual Thinking for
Teaching & Learning
Giulia Forsythe
Special Projects Facilitator
Centre for Pedagogical Innovation

2. Visual Thinking
Brainstorming
Planning
Learning
Teaching

4. the world needs all kinds of minds

5. We all have our preference for entry into the learning cycle.
Where are you most comfortable?

6. but...
Even though you may have a learning preference, you
need to also move outside your comfort zone

7. Recognizing there are a diversity of approaches is essential in teaching and learning contexts. Also
scaffolding learners into new approaches is essential.

8. Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning addresses the three
domains of learning: cognitive, affective and psychomotor.
Or simply,
Head Heart Hand
Deep learning will address all three domains.
Drawing ALSO addresses all three domains of learning.

9. 'The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those ... who cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn
- Alan Toffler

10. How we learn
Zull
• Teach - techen

11. Ken Robinson
RSA Animate
Changing Education Paradigms
Changing Education Paradigms
Changing Education Paradigms
These videos have made a huge impact both for their
content but also in their modality.
If you haven’t already watched this TED talk, go do it now!

12. “the world needs all kinds of minds” -Temple Grandin
Dan Roam in his book “Blah Blah Blah” divides us into Foxes and Hummingbirds.
Dan argues that when communicating, we need balance between both of these

13. “But I’m not an artist!”
Yes, you are.

14. Sunni Brown,TEDx
“As an essentially verbal education gains control, the child abandons
his graphic efforts and relies almost entirely on words”
from Edwards, B. (2008) Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

15. Visual practice only needs

16. “We cannot understand anything unless we
create internal neuronal networks that reflect
physical relationships”
- James Zull
- James Zull

17. Abstract concepts are largely metaphorical
-James Zull

18. How we study our own autobiographies as learners is essential to
our development as teachers
-Stephen Brookfield
-Stephen Brookfield
-Stephen Brookfield

19. Doodle break
• Learning is like...

20. I use visual thinking for brainstorming

21. I use visual thinking for planning
Nancy Duart in her book “Slideology” recommends planning your presentation using sticky notes

22. http://www.spinweaveandcut.blogspot.com/
Nick Sousanis is completing his PhD thesis in comic form

23. QuickTime™ and a
GIF decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Oshii, M. (Director). (1995). Ghost in the Shell [Film].
Watching students take notes in class. There’s a lot of typing and not a lot of listening.
Note taking
in Lectures

24. QuickTime™ and a
GIF decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Providing notes online sometimes allows students to tune out.

27. Doodle Break• Critical incident questionnaire (Brookfield)
• Graph your attention
• most engaged / least engaged