purpose-driven imagery

When constructing lessons, I look for opportunities to express information in multiple modalities whenever possible. Courses must feature vibrant, engaging images, as this makes them more engaging for learners. While achieving these goals, it is also essential that the imagery used in courses is meaningful to the content it contains.

Course introduction screen with a four-image collage: a dolphin jumping at sunset, a high jumper clearing a bar, a basketball shot arcing toward a hoop, and water from a drinking fountain. Next to these images is text explaining these arc-like paths

Quadratic equations are a big step for students in Algebra, and students won’t necessarily naturally see the connection between quadratic equations and real-life applications. Although the lesson subject is graphs of quadratic functions, the collage of real-world imagery displays quadratic relationships with striking visuals. Students will learn in a later lesson that all of these images look like parabolas for a reason: they are examples of projectile motion.

Page titled ‘Radian Measure’ showing two circle diagrams: Figure 1 labeled in degrees (0–360°) and Figure 2 labeled in radians (0–2π).

In a lesson about radians as a unit of angular measure, I used this diagram to illustrate how the two systems of angular measurement compare to each other, as well as activating the students' prior knowledge on measuring angles. Additionally, I included an explanation for the situational preference for radian measurement, making the instruction less arbitrary and more pragmatic to students.