An issue in textbook selection: How to categorize visual representations in a textbook

The selection of a textbook is an important decision made by nearly all educators. When making such a decision educators must decide if the material presented in a textbook will enhance student learning. Although visual representations have the potential to facilitate student learning, this potential is often unfulfilled. In this workshop, a procedure will be discussed which may be used for classifying a visual representation as to: I)what type of informational purpose it has and 2) whether the visual representation helps a student build an external connection, internal connection, or provide a visual of the presented concept.