Graphic organizers are visual aids used to represent complex information and relationships between concepts. They are commonly used in education but can be applied in various fields. Examples include diagrams, storyboards, family trees, flowcharts, and computer interfaces. Graphic organizers help students understand difficult concepts, but they should not replace important information.
A graphic organizer is a tool for education and information transmission. It is a visual aid used to visualize a wide range of facts and the relationships between them. Teachers use graphic organizers in classroom settings to help students understand complex concepts. This is their most common use, but they can be employed in virtually any trade or situation. Their effectiveness at conveying complex information makes them useful in a wide variety of applications, including one-time meetings and ongoing production plans.
The simplest type of graphic organizer is a diagram drawn on a piece of paper. The shape of the diagram is determined by the concept it is trying to represent. The diagram simplifies the relationships between different concepts and makes them easier to remember. For example, a novel’s plot diagram might have a space in the middle for the central character, with branches in each direction representing other characters or concepts and their connection to the main character. The food pyramid is a famous diagram designed by the United States Department of Agriculture to explain important concepts of nutrition to the general public.
A storyboard is a kind of graphic organizer that is widely used in film and television production. Difficult or expensive scenes are meticulously planned in advance with drawings, a process called previsualization. These images are sometimes on individual cards that can be repositioned or removed, allowing the editing process to begin before a single frame has been taken. In prime studio film shoots, the previsualization may include computer models of important shots or effects. Played in sequence, this effectively becomes an advanced form of storyboarding.
Other types of graphic organizers abound; there is no limit to the possible ways information can be represented graphically. The concept of a family tree is one of the most famous uses of the graphic organizer. A flowchart is another common organizer that shows a step-by-step process for solving a problem or question. Law enforcement agencies sometimes use graphic organizers to track ongoing investigations. Rail route managers use a computer graphical interface that displays rail conditions in real time.
Students grappling with difficult concepts may find that a graphic organizer will help them make sense of the topic at hand. It’s important to remember that the graphic organizer is just a tool, not an end in itself. If the additional information makes the structure unwieldy, you may need to revise or create a new organizer rather than leaving out important facts. In the words of philosopher Alfred Korzybski, “The map is not the territory”.
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