Evaluation of the Student Workbook in Terms of Purpose of Use of Pictures

Abstract

Pictures are frequently used as visuals in education to facilitate learning. Pictures should be used in line with their purposes in order to support learning. Mayer classifies pictures as decorative, representational, organizational and explanative pictures with respect to their purpose of use. Among these, decorative pictures and representational pictures are reported not to serve the instructional purpose, while organizational pictures and explanative pictures are claimed to support the transfer of instructional messages. In the present study, the pictures found in the student workbook of fifth grade elementary school students in the course of Information Technologies were examined in terms of their purpose of use in line with expert views. According to the results obtained at the end of the study, it was concluded that the pictures found in the student workbook does not serve the instructional purpose.