Use of infographics by students in business degrees

Abstract

[EN] This paper presents the introduction of infographics in two courses during the academic year 2020-2021. These courses are from bachelor studies in a faculty of Business Administration and Management. This type of visualization was used by students as a support for summarising and communicating their ideas. To do it, different tasks were designed and some applications were proved by students. The experiences explained include the learning objectives that were settled, the activities designed, and the pros and cons of the applications used.

An infographic is a visualization that offers a combination of image, text and chart. This enables grouping STEAM competences in a same task while improving communication skills of students. In the experiences described in this papers, image (arts), data (maths) and text are combined to reinforce the data included. Moreover, technology is incorporated through infographic applications as a digital support for students in online sessions. Another advantage of an infographic is that it allows to transmit important information in a visual and easy way, which facilitates the reader to understand the message even when it is supported by scientific rigor. If its power to illustrate more complete stories is considered, the reason why its use has been extended in the last decade to communicate many different topics, such as data about health, environment and sciences, is clear. When designing an infographic, the three main features to be considered in its structure are the content, the visual and the story. With respect to the content, it is important to consider the target of the infographic, the main where it will be displayed and the order that the story will be explained. The visual aspect will help to communicate the content. For example, using some icons to stablish an order in the story. Making use of different size in letters, might highlight the main sentences in the visual. The story will help to understand the information to be transmitted.

In this paper tasks presented for the two courses are: a) the use of infographics by students to summarise main ideas in some sections of the bachelor¿s degree thesis and b) an infographic used by students after organising information from users¿ opinions in an affinity map. The task in the first course aims that students design an infographic for a section in their bachelor¿s degree thesis. The profile of students in the course will result in many potential themes in their thesis and, thus, in various types of infographics. The learning outcome from the task would be that they are able to convert a difficult section in an understandable message, although maintaining the academic rigor. The task in the second course aims that students organise user¿s opinions from a service in an affinity map. After analysing opinions in social networks and conducting interviews with users, they should communicate the main results in an infographic.

Results obtained from the two experiences differ depending on whether the task was carried out individually or in team, the session was face-to-face or online, and students worked in a same theme or not.