Infographics, as one type of visual information, are becoming more and more prevalent online, especially on social media sites. Because of the prolific nature of these sites, and the fact that 86% of 18-29 year olds use at least one social media site (Pew Research Center, 2017), it’s important to know how well college students understand infographics. Exploring the findings of a pre- and post-questionnaire given to two journalism classes found that students do not independently evaluate infographics. However, by utilizing best practices when creating an infographic assignment, it is possible to teach students how to think critically about the infographics they come into contact with and create. Session participants will come away with approaches for introducing specific evaluative criteria for infographics as well as strategies for creating their own infographic assignments.
