Using collaborative visual summary to assess learning

Eugenia Mora-Flores, Professor of Clinical Education, with Distinction, Assistant Dean of Teacher Education, Rossier School of Education, uses a collaborative visual summary activity at the end of a unit of study to assess learning in her courses.

Professor Mora-Flores was awarded a continuing appointment as a Professor with Distinction in 2024 and is also the recipient of the MAT Professor of the Year Award at Rossier(2018).

Watch this 2-minute video and scroll down for the full interview, plus tips for implementing this kind of activity in your course!

Read more about this approach in Eugenia’s own words:


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Interested in facilitating a collaborative visual summary activity in your course?

Tips from CET

  1. Give guidance for collaboration. Suggest how students could collaborate, emphasizing the process (i.e. idea generation, organizing content, creating the visual). This will encourage students to actively engage and contribute to the process. 
  2. Provide tools that support the activity. Recommend or provide access to digital or physical tools that will enable students to create meaningful visual summaries. For digital tools, ensure they are accessible to all students, and offer tutorials or examples to get students started. 
  3. Monitor group dynamics. Circulate among the groups to check in on progress, address challenges, and offer support. Watch for students who may be struggling with group dynamics (e.g. one person dominating or others not participating) and step in with guidance or mediation if needed to encourage equal contribution. 
  4. Provide time for reflection and revision. Allocate time for groups to reflect on their visual summaries and revise them as needed. This will help students refine their understanding and communication of key concepts. 

What the Research Says

 Bobek, E., & Tversky, B. (2016). Creating visual explanations improves learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 1(1), 27–27. USC Libraries Link.

Clarke, I., Flaherty, T. B., & Yankey, M. (2006). Teaching the Visual Learner: The Use of Visual Summaries in Marketing Education. Journal of Marketing Education, 28(3), 218–226. USC Libraries Link.

Enunwa, C., Obineme, C., Hang, T.-V. P., Ye, C., Veeramachaneni, H., Yu, M. A., Hans, A., Vachaparambil, C., Patel, V., Brown, J. M., & Spicer, J. O. (2022). Visual Summaries of Gastroenterology Guidelines Increase Clinicians’ Exposure to and Knowledge of Guideline-Based Clinical Care. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 117(10S), e1078–e1079. USC Libraries Link.

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