Visualizing Mental Models: Application of Drawing Analysis in Educational Studies

Abstract

Developing thorough knowledge of students’ cognitive processes, conceptual understanding, and emotional states has been critical to all educational studies and practices, and collecting effective data on these inward activities has invariably been challenging. Traditional quantitative research tools, such as scales with closed‑ended questions and standardized questionnaires, might be efficient in handling structured information, but have limitations when it comes to gathering data on students’ cognitive and emotional states, which tend to be complex and implicit. As a result, certain researchers have opted to use qualitative data collection techniques of narrative inquiry to approach students’ inner worlds, such as the focus group interview, story creation, and drama performance. Drawing analysis is also one such technique with increased popularity (Selwyn et al., 2009), with which, drawing is adopted to enable students to visualize abstract concepts, implicit attitudes, and even latent inspirations as analyzable images using visual symbols as media, providing researchers with valuable opportunity for data collection and analysis.