Challenge A: Comics

Introduction: I chose to create a comic strip about the brain because, as a psychology student, I am constantly learning about how it works. A comic strip format allows me to present the material in a way that is both engaging and accessible, helping new psychology students nail down the concepts and functions of the brain’s lobes.

Challenge: Education needs to be more fun and engaging. A simple but effective comic strip can help achieve this by turning complex topics, like the brain, into something more memorable. The brain is already complicated, so why teach it through long, wordy slides when students could instead learn through fun graphics, relatable characters, and clear visuals? By combining accurate information with engaging design, this comic strip will make learning both enjoyable and effective.

POV statement: New psychology students need an engaging and fun way to learn the functions of the brain because regular lecture slides are often dull and busy. By presenting the material in a colorful, comic strip format, students can connect concepts to visuals, making learning more enjoyable, memorable, and less intimidating.

MY UNDERSTANDING: For phase one, I wrote down the functions of the brain so I could later organize them with matching graphics. This process is my plan for making sure my comic strip will be well taken. By connecting the content directly to visuals, I am applying multimedia and user-experience principles to reduce cognitive load and support learning outcomes.

The lobes and their functions:

• Frontal Lobe: planning, decision-making, problem-solving, and emotional regulation
• Parietal Lobe: processing sensory information, integrating sensory input, and spatial navigation and awareness
• Occipital Lobe: visual processing, as well as recognizing objects, faces, and depth
• Temporal Lobe: processing sounds and speech, memory formation and retrieval, and understanding visual information, including faces and objects
• Cerebellum: coordinating voluntary movements, ensuring balance, maintaining posture, and controlling muscle tone
• Brain Stem: controls essential life functions like breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, swallowing, and consciousness

MY PROTOTYPE:

I plan to assign each lobe a specific color and write the definitions in the comic strip where I currently have placeholders such as “(info about…).” Each lobe will stand out visually and fit with its definition. To enhance engagement, I may add fun characters to illustrate the functions of each lobe, provided this does not overwhelm learners. My multimedia design approach combines both colored text and images, allowing students to easily connect brain structures to their functions. This strategy applies principles of multimedia learning and user experience, making the content more memorable, engaging, and accessible for new psychology students.

FEEDBACK:

• Hello @evelynschoahs, here is my feedback on your comic:
  I really liked reading your comic prototype on the topic of brain anatomy. It is very smart to organize the information individually so that every lobe of the brain has an individual panel with focused information. In this way, you made the information easy to understand and showed effective segmenting as well. I also liked your idea of using color coding and placeholders, which will be effective in making the content both engaging and easy to follow. Your work displayed a strong understanding of multimedia design. One suggestion would be to add actions and analogies in each panel that connect each lobe to everyday activities to make it more memorable. For example, you can use a character who is solving the puzzle in the frontal lobe panel, or a character catching a ball in the cerebellum panel, which will help to connect abstract terms and information to real-life experiences. I was also wondering about exactly how much text you are planning to use because some of the placeholders in your comic suggest the use of longer explanations. A large amount of information can overwhelm the readers, so balancing the text and visuals with clarity could help in strengthening the final design.
  Overall, your prototype shows the signs of creativity, information organization, and a solid chance to teach memorably. (From Neeraj)
• Hi, the idea for your comic seems fascinating. I like the idea of connecting the psychology of the brain with your interests. First thing I want to mention is you are amazing at drawing the brain. You got all the main brain areas covered that are important to learn, without adding much which is vital to not fall into the extraneous cognitive load. I also like how in your comic you point out the specific areas of the brain that you are referencing too which helps better comprehend what is going on without going into too many words trying to explain where in the brain it is. Very good use of balancing images and text. As you’re already aware, it seems I would be careful dining in characters while drawing the brain to not overload the reader with visual information as that could become congested, I enjoy the simplicity while covering vital information. I would suggest for your final design to make it a little more engaging by adding examples of how the area of the brain affects everyday life so a new psychology student can make connections with each brain area easier. I like your prototype and the direction and it shows knowledge of multimedia and originality. Can’t wait to see the final project! (From Zik)

Reflection:

Reflecting on the feedback I received from Neeraj and Zik, I felt pleased about the progress I have made with my comic prototype on brain anatomy and was motivated to work on it more. Both highlighted that my organization of the panels, separating each lobe into its own section, was effective for clarity and learning. I am glad that my use of color coding, placeholders, and labeling of the brain areas was recognized as helpful for segmenting information and preventing unnecessary cognitive load. Their comments reassured me that I had found a good balance between visuals and text. With their feedback, I made sure to be careful with the amount of text I included so that readers don’t feel overwhelmed.

I also found their suggestions about adding actions and real-life analogies very insightful. Using characters to show everyday activities would help connect ideas to the examples, making the comic more memorable and engaging for students. At the same time, I want to be mindful not to add too many visual elements that could make the panels overwhelming, so I stuck with using a bright colour and a simple speech bubble to draw in the reader’s attention.

Overall, I feel good that my prototype shows creativity, clear organization, and a good idea of multimedia design. The feedback helped me recognize the strengths of my current work while also reminding me to focus on not causing cognitive load.

Final Results: