Today is the third day (Friday, March 3rd) of #BPDNOLA17, and I am presenting with some of my favorite #swtech peeps, Dr. Nathalie Jones of Tarleton State University and Dr. Melanie Sage of the University of North Dakota, at 1:45pm in Bayside C at the Sheraton in New Orleans. We will be talking about an infographic assignment that we jointly developed and implemented with students at each of our campuses. The use of infographics for classroom assignments is becoming commonplace in higher education, although less is known about its use in social work education. Our workshop will review how we collaborated to develop, implement and evaluate an infographic assignment for courses across the social work curriculum

1. Visualizing Data: Infographic
Assignments across the Social
Work Curriculum
Text
Images
Data
Nathalie Jones, PhD, Tarleton State University
Melanie Sage, PhD, U of North Dakota
Laurel Hitchcock, PhD, UA at Birmingham

2. Learning Objectives
By the end of this presentation we’ll teach you these things….
Recognize how
infographic tools
can be
incorporated into
assignments for
social work
courses.
Understand how the
use of social media as a
teaching tool in
undergraduate courses
can be used to develop
and assess social work
competencies.
Appreciate the role of
collaboration to
support the
development and
implementation of
technology-based
assignments in social
work education.

3. Why use infographics in the
Social Work classroom?
Develop
key digital
literacy
skills
Effective way to
communicate
Increasingly
popular

4. What is an infographic?
Visual images and writing put together to explain/tell a story

6. Considerations for Digital Storytelling
Hardware Software Techniques Outputs Ethics
Smartphone Phone apps Record in quiet
space
Health messages Informed
consent
Video camera Storify Test sound
quality
Infographics Institutional
review
Audio Recorder Piktochart Use text to
caption video
Video shorts Professionalism
Laptop/Desktop Powerpoint for
slideshows
Train participants
to use
technology
Audio stories Confidentiality
Microphone audacity Attention span
3-5 minutes
Photo exhibits Student privacy

7. Tools for infographics
Piktochart
Venngage
Easel.ly
Canva
PowerPoint

8. Infographic Assignment
The Basics
Infographic Assignment
First Step
Prepare for the
Assignment.
Second Step
Learn the
Technology
Third Step
Make your
Infographic.
Fourth Step
Share your
Infographic
Fifth Step
Reflection

9. Learning Outcomes:
• Create an infographic that provides awareness and/or describes preventative measures related to a social problem
• Conduct research to identify statistics, resources and other data relevant to a social problem
• Conduct research to identify statistics, resources and other data relevant to a social problem
• Demonstrate communication and advocacy skills by sharing and promoting one’s infographic via social media
Step 1: Prep for the assignment
Instructor introduces infographics and purpose of their use. Offers some quality measures.
Students review some infographics. Choose a good one about a social-work-related topic to share (on a blog? In class? Blackboard? brief reflection on
what you like/don’t?)
Rate it against the class rubric
Choose your topic. (We will have specific topics related to our courses, ie policy, mental health, etc)
Find a research article (for practice topics) or legislative policy related to the topic.
Carefully select some main points that you want to share visually.
• Identify stakeholders for this topic, and choose an audience. It could be consumers, parents, practitioners, policy makers, social
workers, students, etc.
• Main points should highlight data, milestones, thesis statements, major findings, or key indicators that help offer the specific audience
key information in a way that is accessible and important to them.
• What images will help you visually represent these ideas? Imagine what picture or graphic will help you tell your story
Step 2: Learn the technology
Instructor will share YouTube videos of the use of Piktochart and VennGage, free infographic creators. Students will make time to seek extra help if
necessary
Step 3: Make your infographic and get feedback
First draft infographic should first be rated by a peer using the class rubric (post at blackboard)
Next step: email a stakeholder (author of article cited, policy maker, or other expert related to your chosen topic) and ask for feedback about clarity,
accuracy, and usefulness of your infographic
Step 4: Share your infographic
Choose at least one Twitter hashtag relevant to your topic, and share your infographic via Twitter using this hashtag
Consider sharing several times over several days, tag people in the infographic who tweet on this topic
Consider what other strategies you would use if this were a public awareness campaign for an agency you represent
Step 5: Reflection
Which class infographic got the most shares and why? Which was viewed by the biggest audience and why? What is the value of social networks to social
workers who have advocacy roles? Reflect on your learning related to (each practice behavior….. ) What else did you learn? Which of these skills do
you expect to use in the future?
Bonus: (Prize/extra credit for class-selected best? Most shared?) Extra credit for survey?

10. Assignment Specific
Blurbs from our Syllabi
Peer rating rubric

11. SOCW 3320: Service Learning at TSU
Nathalie’s Assignment
• The purpose of this infographic assignment is
to help students practice advocacy & brokering
skills as it relates to a human service issue
and/or topic identified by the team/group.
• Students are expected to create an infographic
that provides statistics and/or facts on a
chosen social problem as it relates to a
particular population.
• Additional details provided & discussed during
class.

12. SW 422: Social Work Practice II at UAB
Laurel’s Assignment
• Infographics topics:
• Non-profit Agency
• Community Assets
• Peer-reviews
• Sharing on Twitter & Service
Learning Partners

13. SWK 317: Social Work Research at UND
Melanie’s Assignment
• Infographics topic:
• Find a research paper to turn in to
an infographic
• Include the research question,
population, main data points,
outcome, implications
• Include APA citation
• Peer-reviews to assure purpose,
visualization, reference, and writing
goals are achieved

14. Our Research Collaboration
INPUT
Independently
working on
infographic
assignments
Connected through
Twitter
Collaborative
development
research questions
PROCESS
Created a master infographic
assignment
Designed our SOTL study
Student Survey
#VisualSW
OUTPUT
Students from
three different
institutions
creating
infographics on
different topics
Data on student
learning across
demographics

15. Our Research Questions
Can the use of infographics contribute to
student learning about technology and
about social work? If so, How?
What factors have a positive and/or
negative effect on the implementation of an
infographic assignment?
What differences do students perceive
between an infographic assignment and a
writing assignment?

16. Survey
Approved by IRB at UND
In non-technical language describe the purpose of the study and state the
rationale for this research.
This study will investigate the experience of undergraduate students in completing infographic
assignments in social work courses across the curriculum and in multiple program across the US.
The assignment involves students creating a visual product with text and images about a topic
relevant to a social work course. A copy of this assignment is attached. We will assess both the
process and the outcome of the assignment, gathering data that are informative for faculty and
others who are engaging in similar instructive activities as well as the impact of the project on the
student participants. Findings will include student-identified outcomes; successes and challenges of
the implementation of the assignment; and empirically-supported suggestions for pedagogical best
practices. The overall research question for this project is:
Can the use of infographics contribute to student learning about technology and about social work?
In non-technical language, please describe the study.
Students will complete the assignment as part of a course requirement as well as a required post-
assignment assessment survey (see attached). Our research involves analyzing the anonymous
results of the required survey. No student names will be used during analysis and identifiers will
not be recorded on a master list. Students may not opt out of the assignment or post-survey, but
the decision to let researchers analyze their data is voluntary. Students will receive information
about the study along with the survey and may opt out of the study by checking a box at top of the
survey instruments.

17. Quantitative Results
Student Demographics (N = 59)
UND (n = 15) UAB (n =20) TSU (n=24) Total (N= 59)
Average Age
24.5 years 25 years 33 years 28 years
Female
13 (86%) 18 (90%) 18 (75%) 53 (90%)
Non-
Traditional
Student 4 (27%) 5 (25%) 18 (75%) 27 (36%)
UND = University of North Dakota
UAB = University of Alabama at Birmingham
TSU = Tarleton State University

18. Quantitative Results
How comfortable are you with technology? (n = 59)
Question
How comfortable
are you with
technology?
How comfortable were
you with creating
infographics prior to this
assignment?
Extremely comfortable 22 (37.3%) 2 (3.3%)
Moderately comfortable 26 (44.1%) 7 (11.8%)
Slightly comfortable 8(13.6%) 9 (15.3%)
Neither comfortable nor
uncomfortable 2 (3.4%) 14 (23.7%)
Slightly uncomfortable 1 (1.7%) 10 (17.0%)
Moderately uncomfortable 0 (0.0%) 7 (11.8%)
Extremely uncomfortable 0 (0.0%) 10 (17.0%)

19. Quantitative Results
How valuable was this assignment to your learning
about…. (n= 56)?
How valuable was this
assignment in teaching….
Very
valuable
mostly
valuable
moderately
valuable
only a little
bit valuable
Not very
valuable
...how to interpret and
communicate about a social
work topic? 30 (54%) 18 (32%) 5 (9%) 1 (2%) 2 (5%)
...presenting statistics,
resources and other data? 31 (55%) 14 (25%) 8 (14%) 0 (0%) 3 (5%)
...communication and advocacy
skills ? 34 (61%) 13 (23%) 6 (11%) 1 (2%) 2 (5%)

20. Qualitative
Results
THEME #1
Technology
Use
Pro
Very easy to use!
Pro
“I found it easy to complete, the professor did a
great job at giving resources for the project.”
Con
“Some app-related issues; switched to a different
site instead.”
Con
“Was a slow website to use on my tablet and glitches a
lot so I went to a campus computer lab to finish it.”

21. Qualitative
Results
THEME #2
Assignment
Style
Pro
“I loved this assignment. I would much rather
create an infographic rather than writing a
paper”
Pro
“I would have rather done the infographic than
write a paper. I feel like, with the infographic you
have to research a topic and write what you think
is most relevant to share with others.”
Con
“It did not have an impact of learning in this
assignment in comparison to other assignments in
the class.”
Con
“This assignment was kind of difficult to me
because I am not majoring in social work.”

22. Qualitative
Results
THEME #3
Pro
“Having something tangible that uses the skills
and advocates for the cause you are supporting
couldn't be matched in a paper or a PowerPoint.”
Pro
“An infographic grabs the reader's attention
faster than viewing a written paper or taking the
time to view a PowerPoint presentation.
Infographics are compact and the data is clearly
stated.”
Con
“To be honest, I would have written a paper
instead, because of how time consuming it was. I
am glad that I know how to create one though.”
Con
“It was more time consuming because you spend
most of your time formatting and making it look
pretty then actually doing the research.”
Learning
Outcomes

23. Discussion/Lessons Learned
Nathalie
• Provide additional tech
support during class.
• Additional class discussion on
steps.
• Combine steps that seem to
be somewhat simple.
• Explain each step prior to the
due date to ensure clarity.
Melanie
• Start early- this
assignment has lots of
pieces.
• Provide in-class time for
practice, group work, in-
person trouble-shooting.
• Shorten videos/use
videos outside of class.
Laurel
• Connect assignment
with digital literacy
• Review an infographic
before creating one
• Connect assignment to
real-world experiences
• Model

24. Questions?
Nathalie P. Jones, PhD, MSW
Assistant Professor
Tarleton State University
njones@Tarleton.edu
@DrNJonesTSU
Laurel Iverson Hitchcock, PhD, MPH, LICSW, PIP
Assistant Professor
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
lihitch@uab.edu
@laurelhitchcock
Melanie Sage, PhD, LICSW
Assistant Professor
University of North Dakota
Melanie.Sage@und.edu
@melaniesage
Access slides and other info from this presentation:
http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/2017/02/24/bp
dnola17infographics/

25. References
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. (n.d.). Infographics. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from
http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/tools/infographics.html
Council on Social Work Education. (2015). Educational Policy and Accreditation
Standards. Washington, DC: Author.
Dyjur, P., & Li, L. (2015). Learning 21st Century Skills by Engaging in an Infographics Assessment. In Proceedings of
the IDEAS: Designing Responsive Pedagogy (pp. 62–71). University of Calgary. Retrieved from
http://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/50860/1/7%20Learning%2021st%20-%20Dyjur%20%26%20Li.pdf
Joosten, T. (2012). Social media for educators: strategies and best practices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kos, B. A., & Sims, E. (2014). Infographics: The New 5-Paragraph Essay. In 2014 Rocky Mountain Celebration of
Women in Computing. Laramie, WY, USA. Retrieved from
http://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=atlas_gradpapers
Martix, S., & Hodson, J. (2014). Teaching with infographics: practicing new digital competencies and visual
literacies. Journal of pedagogic development, 4 (2). Retrieved from: http://www.beds.ac.uk/jpd/volume-4-issue-
2/teaching-with-infographics