The use of infographics for classroom assignments is becoming commonplace in higher education, although less is known about its use in social work education. This workshop will review how three social work educators collaborated to develop, implement and evaluate an infographic assignment for courses across the social work curriculum. By the end of the session, participants will be able to recognize how infographic tools can be incorporated into assignments for social work courses, and understand how the use of social media as a teaching tool in undergraduate courses can be used to develop and assess social work competencies.

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.

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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%)

7. 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%)

8. 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.”

9. 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.”

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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?

13. 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 at Buffalo
msage@buffalo.edu
@melaniesage

14. 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