The Use of Comics to Educate K-12 Students on Voltaic Cells

Chemical engineers are integral to the functionality of fields like the pharmaceutical industry that provides medicine to keep our communities healthy and petrochemicals to fuel our cars and homes. Through all the work that chemical engineers engage in, however, environmental sustainability is a constant factor of optimization, especially in our energy districts. On a planet plagued with the devastating consequences of climate change, chemical engineers become indispensable to not only improving these effects but also reversing them over time. However, while the work that chemical engineers do is so critical, the process to becoming one is also notoriously intimidating. Chemical engineering is one of the most difficult engineering disciplines to understand at a collegiate level, and this often discourages many from pursuing it as a degree. Not only is the content challenging, but the methods by which it is taught only exacerbates the challenge of learning the material. Monotone college lectures deter interest and convoluted textbook pages only frustrate students. However, one method that has been found to have an effective impact on helping students learn and digest class material are comics, educational narratives accompanied with well-crafted images.

One foundational concept that many chemical engineers have had trouble understanding in chemical engineering is electrochemical batteries and how they work. In the comic that we have constructed, we explain the structure, functionality, and use of different batteries that are used by many on a regular basis. In this comic, a personified flashlight explains to a struggling student the inside structure of a basic voltaic cell and what chemical reactions cause it to power objects like the flashlight itself. This conversation facilitates both a visual understanding of voltaic cells and a vicariously audible understanding as the reader is put into the position of the student ‘hearing’ the flashlight explain it. Using this comic to explain voltaic cells provides a colorful alternative to the tedious and perplexing teaching methods usually found in traditional classrooms and will promote interest and engagement in chemical engineering.