Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW OF THREE ARTICLES 1

Literature Review of Three Articles that pertain to Graphic Novels in the Classroom

Kevin B. Johns

University of West Georgia

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Literature Review of Three Articles that pertain to Graphic Novels in the Classroom

This literature review will be compromised of three journal articles that pertain to how

graphic novels are used in the classroom and the connection to visual literacy. Graphic novel use

is a rising trend in the educational world as it entertains students as well as informs them on

knowledge. This new approach to literacy is revered by some and reviled by others. The purpose

of this literature review is to compare results from three differing studies to see confirmation of

good practice with graphic novels in the classroom.

Literature Review of Article 1

In this article, Matthew M. Cirigliano reports on a study where a primary investigator

explores the attitudes of students who use graphic novels as a support to their learning. The

article shows that the investigator used a qualitative study to find out the thoughts and attitudes

of students who used the created graphic novel to learn in their college biology course. The

articles used Q-methodology, which is a type of qualitative study that uses some quantitative

parts.

Method

The method that was used was Q-methodology which the Cirigliano states as, Q-

Methodology is a combination of qualitative and quantitative statistical techniques utilized to

extract commonly shared opinions regarding a specific topic of inquiry. (Cirigliano, 2012)

There were twenty-three questions formulated by the primary investigator that were given to

students to obtain data on their thoughts and opinions on the use and content of the graphic novel

created. The subjects of the study were also told what the goals of the study were before they

partook in the survey.

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Participants

The participants of the study were between the ages of 18 and 21, and were students at

the University of Illinois. There were 49 total participants, who all were taking biology at the

time. The specific content in biology was cellular biology. According to Cirigliano (2012), the

sole eligibility criteria was, students should speak fluent English. The students were not

compensated, and the students who did participate were 100% voluntary.

Results

The results were broken down into 5 groups of students. One group was coined as

diversion seekers which were defined as individuals that enjoy being entertained and prefer

activity over tedium. (Cirigliano, 2012) This group basically stated that new materials should be

constantly brought into the classroom. The next group was pro-edutainment which was defined

as a group that was excited about media use in the classroom and wholly agreed in its use.

(Cirigliano, 2012) The next group was coined as the information recall group which believed

in the use for graphic novels as a reminder of information or for teaching new concepts. Another

group was termed as the strictly business group and this group only looked at the graphic novel

once, and stated that they had no use for it, but used it once for information. The final group was

the entertained group and they did not note much on the usefulness for learning, but noted how

much they enjoyed the graphic novel itself.

Reflection

After reading this article I learned how useful media can be in the classroom as it pertains

to visual literacy. The students here were highly educated students, but many of them noted that

the use of this type of media was better than strictly using conventional means of educating.

Traditional education in some aspects is still a great methodology of teaching, however, as our
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world has changed, educators must keep up with the demands of our current students. By doing

the research that was conducted at the University of Illinois we can conclude even highly

educated individuals who would have traditionally been considered too old for graphic novels

truly enjoyed them.

Literature Review of Article 2

In this article a social study graduate student who taught a methods course took on the

role as a researcher and had her students participate in the use of graphic novels for social studies

teaching. This course was taught prior to the students entering into the student teaching

practicum section of their studies.

Methods

The students were to read two graphic novels over the course of two weeks. The students

had a list of five graphic novels to choose from and only had to select two from the list. The data

would then be collected via online discussion board through six discussion pertaining to the use

of graphic novels. The content of the discussion was then analyzed by the researcher and

compiled to be discussed.

Participants

The participants were preservice teachers in a social science course. There was a total of

twenty-four participants. The demographics of the participants were not released nor was their

age given in the journal article. Although according to Clark, she had no control over the

participation as it the population that was used for the study were students in his or her methods

course.

Results
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Anne and Marco demonstrated that they came to value the genre in several ways for the

social studies curriculum and felt that graphic novels could benet their students.(Clark, 2013)

This was Clarks view of how these students felt after doing the assignment. Many of the

students responses were conducive to what Clark states were the general feelings of all the

students. This type of qualitative study is unique, but is a great use of case study as it directly

shows the thoughts and feelings of the participants.

Reflection

After reading this article it was clear that a case study in a class is a great way to conduct

a qualitative study. Having students see the importance of using graphic novels before they begin

teaching is a great way to get future teachers using this type of media when they become

teachers. I can see that the researcher understood the importance of using graphic novels as a

support for instruction as well as a direct instructional tool. This allowed for her participants to

see how to use graphic novels in their future classes by reading graphic novels and connecting

them to standards that would be taught in their content for social sciences.

Literature Review of Article 3

The third article is about school libraries use of graphic novels. This article reviews the

use of graphic novels in six middle schools to determine what type and how often graphic novels

are being used. The purpose of the article is to provide school media specialist with data about

circulation and types of graphic novels that were checked out in these six schools.

Methods

According to Gavigan, A survey instrument was developed with the assistance of a

statistician in the Statistical Consulting Lab at the University of South Carolina (USC), and pilot

tested with school librarians. (Gavigan, 2014) This survey was mainly qualitative in its design
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as a survey was the driving source for the study as well as audio tapes taken from participants in

the study. However, statistics were also used to confirm the qualitative research. This makes this

mixed methods.

Participation

Six schools were used in total for this study. The study was conducted in both North and

South Carolina. There were three schools chosen from North Carolina and three also chosen

from South Carolina. The studies were conducted for one academic year, and were also limited

to grades 6-12.

Results

The results of the quantitative part can be found in table 1:

This data shows that graphic novels are being heavily used in the school systems. It should be

noted that over 10% was a large amount of circulation since there are so many available genres.

However, when compared with all available genres the percentage does seem small. This means

there is a lot of genres that are not being read in the school systems. According to Gavigan,

Students should have access to literature, like graphic novels, that will motivate them to read

and help them become more proficient readers; therefore, school librarians need credible data to

help them assess the popularity of this literary format, as well as the value of their graphic novel

collections. (Gavigan, 2014)

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Reflection

After reading this article it was clear that graphic novels are being heavily used in

circulation of school library materials when compared to library materials that are being checked

out. Although when compared with all materials available it is not, there is still a large need for

graphic novels to be used in classrooms as the data proves that students do want to read them

when they do read. IT is imperative that as educators we use graphic novels to show visual media

literacy.
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References

Cirigliano, M. M. (2012). Exploring the Attitudes of Students Using an Edutainment Graphic

Novel as a Supplement to Learning in the Classroom. Science Educator, 29-36.

Clark, J. S. (2013). Your Credibility Could Be Shot: Preservice TeachersThinking about

Nonction Graphic Novels, Curriculum Decision Making, and Professional Acceptance.

The Social Studies, 38-45.

Gavigan, K. W. (2014). Shedding New Light on Graphic Novel Collections: A Circulation and

Collection Analysis Study in Six Middle School Libraries. School Libraries Worldwide,

98-115.