Visualization in Education.

   Remember that old cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Yeah, I remember reading the picture version of War and Peace (that would still make it ~590 pages.). All joking about how video killed the radio-star aside, the above statement can very well be true. I am a student of the literary persuasion (big shock, I know), but I also have studied classic art extensively. A painting can be analysed using techniques very similar to literary analyses. They are two mediums that can be used to achieve the same message. Never mind the fact that early writing and drawings were the same thing.

The original 'knock knock' joke.

   The power of the image as an educational tool is not to be underestimated. Imagine, if you will, the complexities of explaining exactly what the heck a "Krebs Cycle" is without the aid of images. I present to you, exhibit (A).

Yeah... there's a reason I study Literature.

   Look at that monstrosity up there. Now, if you have no idea what is happening up there, that's okay, needless to say that explaining the mechanics of what is pictured without the aid of images would be a stern lesson indeed. I never would have survived science or math classes without the aid of visual tools. They're just some foreign language without the ability to visualize what they represent in the physical world.

   And that's what visualization is, representation. Images already come pre-packaged with all this mental association. It's the whole reason we have modern book covers. Exhibit (B) is go!

Oh, this must be the one with Christopher Robin and that obese stuffed bear.

   If that was just a blank black cover that said "Rogue" across it...you may have trouble ascertaining it's contents, but with Future Space Captain Ninja McBlack-Ops up there, you know this book means business. Future Space Ninja business...