What is an infographic?

Infographics are visual representations of complex data. Sometimes people say infographic when they mean “mind map” or “concept map”. While they are similar in that they reduce textual load and present information in new and engaging ways, infographics are more focused on telling a story with data.

What is a concept map?

A concept map is a visual way of organizing information. D’Antoni (2010) describes mind maps as “multi-sensory tools that may help students organize, integrate, and retain information”. You can read more about concept maps, partial graphic organizers, and cornell notes at the Ontario Extend Teacher for Learning module.

For the instructor

First start with your learning outcomes:

Why do you want your students to create an infographic?
What knowledge, skills, and attitudes are you hoping they will have by creating this assignment?

For the students

Start with Questions

what story do you want to tell and what do you want to achieve?
what data do you have access to?
who are your target audiences?

(from Mollett et al (2017)

Decide on the best way to present the data

Find images that represent ideas

Check out the noun project

Use creative commons, which is free as long as you give attribution. Use this as a good opportunity to discuss copyright and using images from the web.

Choose software

There are many web tools to choose from. Most are free but require an email address in order to sign up. The most popular are Piktochart, Canva, Visual.ly,

References and Resources

D’Antoni et al.: Does the mind map learning strategy facilitate information retrieval and critical thinking in medical students?. BMC Medical Education 2010 10:61.

Matrix, S. (2014). Sample infographic Rubric.

Mollett, A., Brumley, C., Gilson, C., & Wiliams, S. (2017). Communicating your research with social media : a practical guide to using blogs : podcasts, data visualisations and video. London ; Thousand Oaks, California : Sage Publication Ltd, 2017.