Graphicacy is defined as the ability to understand and present information in the form of sketches, photographs, diagrams, maps, plans, charts, graphs and other non-textual formats.

Origin

The word graphicacy was coined by geographers

William Balchin William George Victor Balchin (20 June 1916 – 30 July 2007) was a British geographer. He was noted for original research in geology and significant contributions to geography, and for establishing the academic concept of graphicacy.Obituary: Wil ...

and

Alice Coleman Alice Mary Coleman (born 8 June 1923) is emerita professor of geography at King's College London. She is noted for directing the 1960s Second Land Use Survey of Britain and for analyses of land use planning and urban design which have influence ...

as a characterisation of visuo-spatial and cartographic abilities, "the communication of spatial information that cannot be conveyed adequately by verbal or numerical means", including the whole field of graphic arts and much of geography, cartography, computer-graphics, and photography. The word "graphicacy" was chosen by analogy with

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

numeracy Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and to apply simple numerical concepts. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world and being able to apply it to make the bes ...

and articulacy.Balchin, W. G. V. 'Graphicacy', ''Geography'', Geographical Association, 1972, 57, pp. 185–195

Differences from other skills

Interpretation of graphics is loosely analogous to the process of

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...

, while generation of graphics is the counterpart of writing text. However, text and graphics are based on very different

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

s. For example, whereas text is structured according to formal organisational rules that apply irrespective of the content, this is not the case for graphics. With text

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such a ...

, the units of

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

(

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

s) are expected to be organised according to broad conventions (such as being sequenced in orderly rows starting from top left and progressing down the page). However graphics are not subject to a similarly stringent set of structural conventions. Instead, it is the content itself that determines the nature of the graphic entities and the way they are arranged. For example, the

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

and spatial arrangement of the items that comprise the actual subject matter being represented in the graphic are used as the basis for the graphic entities and structure that are displayed in the graphic. This is not the case with written text where the words and their arrangement bear no resemblance to the represented subject matter. Because of these and other fundamental differences between text and graphics, the processes involved in comprehension and production of graphics are distinguished from those involved in comprehension and production of text.

Issues

The concept of graphicacy acknowledges the characteristic features of graphic information that distinguish it from other forms of representation such as verbal and numerical information. Separating graphicacy from

and

delineates the distinctive and complementary types of contributions that graphics, words, and numbers each make in human communication. The interpretative components of graphicacy skills are relevant in the increasing range of situations where graphics carry the primary responsibility for communication. Early recognition of the importance of graphicacy came from disciplines such as geography, science and mathematics in which graphics play a key role. Educators in these and similar disciplines have become increasingly concerned with the capacities of students to comprehend information presented by way of graphics. The interpretation of certain types of graphics can sometimes be very challenging. In addition, it is thought that graphicacy skills are largely learned rather than innate and that a viewer's capacity to interpret particular types of graphics is related to their background knowledge, in particular knowledge about the specific ''graphic system'' used to depict the subject matter, and knowledge about the ''subject matter'' that is depicted in the graphic. Severe deficiencies in either of these aspects of background knowledge may prevent a viewer from comprehending a graphic.

Example

There are some fundamental differences between written text and a graphic representation. For example, a brief explanation of the structure of a bowstring arch bridge may read:

''Spanning the river is the bridge’s arch structure with its ends carried by
abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining wal ...
s on each bank. The deck of the bridge is suspended by struts attached to the arch and runs between the banks. Each end of the deck is connected to the arch's legs.''

The main items mentioned, extracted and arranged in their order of mention in the text, would read:

''River; Bridge; Arch; Ends of arch; Abutments; Banks; Deck; Bridge; Struts; Arch; Banks; Ends of deck; Arch legs''

The signs used to represent parts of the bridge in words are very different from the signs used in the picture of the bridge. Furthermore, the same items (such as bridge, arch, and banks) are often mentioned more than once in the text version, due to the constraints of text as a representational system. However, in a graphic of this bridge, such information would only need to appear once. The arrangement of these items is also different in the text from what it would be in a graphic. When compared with the order of mention in the text with this depiction, the text is not arranged in a way that would directly map onto the bridge, but presents the bridge's components in a linear sequence that gives no visual indication of the bridge's structure.

References

* Aldrich, F., & Sheppard, L. (2000). Graphicacy; The fourth 'R'? Primary Science Review, 64, 8–11. * Anning, A. (2003). Pathways to the graphicacy club: The crossroad of home and pre-school. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, vol. 3, no 1, 5–35. * Balchin, W.G.(1976). Graphicacy. American Cartographer, 3 (1). * Balchin, W.G.(1985). Graphicacy comes of age, Teaching Geography, 11 (1), 8–9. * Boardman, D. (1990). Graphicacy revisited: mapping abilities and gender differences, Educational Review, 42(1), pp. 57–64. * Cox, R,. Romero, P., du Boulay, B, & Lutz, R (2004). A Cognitive Processing Perspective on Student Programmers' Graphicacy. Diagrams 2004: 344–346. * Hadjidemetriou, C., & Williams, J. (2002). Children's graphical conceptions. Research in Mathematics Education, 4, 69–87. * Matthews, M. H. (1986). Gender, graphicacy and geography, Educational Review, 38 (3), 259–271. * Milsom, D. (1987. Basic Graphicacy, Nelson Thornes. * Postigo, Y., & Pozo, J. I. (2004). On the Road to Graphicacy: The learning of graphical representation systems. Educational Psychology, 24(5), 623–644. * Roth, W.-M., Pozzer-Ardenghi, L., & Han, J. Y. (2005). Critical Graphicacy: Understanding Visual Representation Practices in School Science Series: Science & Technology Education Library, Vol. 26. New York: Springer. {{ISBN, 1-4020-3375-3. * Wainer, H. (1980). A test of graphicacy in children. Applied Psychological Measurement, 4, 331–340. * Wilmot, P.D (1999). Graphicacy as a Form of Communication The South African Geographical Journal, 81(2) Aptitude Skills Pedagogy