Exploring How Educational Comics Teach Effectively

As I begin planning my educational comic project, I wanted to dive into how text and visuals can be combined to make learning more engaging and effective. While I’ve created visual content before, this is the first time I’ll be using comics specifically to explain a concept, so I explored research and design principles to guide me.

One of the most helpful resources I found was the paper “Learning from Comics: A Study on How Visual Narratives Support Knowledge Construction” by Cohn & Wittenberg (2020). The study highlights that comics promote learning through dual coding: the brain processes text and images in separate channels, which strengthens memory when both are used together. They also emphasize the role of sequential structure — panels that follow a logical narrative make it easier for readers to mentally organize new information. This aligns well with Mayer’s multimedia learning theory, which states that combining words and visuals supports deeper understanding.

I also explored some practical tools and techniques. Canva and Pixton stood out as beginner-friendly platforms for creating comics, offering drag-and-drop panels, characters, and speech bubbles. Storyboarding early seems essential — sketching rough panel ideas before creating polished visuals will save time and help with pacing. I’m also planning to use color to emphasize key ideas and keep text concise to avoid cognitive overload.

These insights have given me a clearer framework for my comic: build a logical visual narrative, balance text with visuals, and keep it simple but engaging.

References

Cohn, N., & Wittenberg, E. (2020). Learning from comics: A study on how visual narratives support knowledge construction. Journal of Visual Literacy, 39(3), 189–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/1051144X.2020.1807015