A Cost-Effective Approach to Producing Animated Infographics for Immunology Teaching†

INTRODUCTION Multimedia resources such as sound, video, still images, and animation are increasingly being used to enhance student engagement with educational content (1, 3, 6, 9), in particular , helping students construct their own understanding of concepts that are difficult to grasp (7). The use of computer animation in medical education has been described in several foundation subjects, including histology (1), cellular and molecular processes (3, 9), and immunology (6). However, the creation of animation is time-consuming and, hence, expensive when compared with static graphics (2). It also requires specialist skills, such as knowledge of animation concepts and animation software skills. Immunology is considered a conceptually difficult subject and is further complicated by the use of special nomenclature and terminology. To master the subject, the learner must understand how multiple, abstract, interacting components fit together to explain different immunological concepts. The learner needs to be helped to construct their own knowledge by starting from their current level of understanding (7); the multiple, interacting components also place a high cognitive load on the student (8). To assist these processes, a lecturer in immunology could produce simple and accurate animation using readily available tools such as PowerPoint. However, this is time-consuming and the sophistication of the animation is restricted, limiting its communicative power. Alternatively, more complex anima-tions are cost prohibitive, as they have to be outsourced to specialists. Recognizing these challenges, we describe an alternative , low-cost process where we harnessed the need of design students for real-world projects in which their skills can be developed and assessed. The process involved multidisciplinary collaboration between an immunology lecturer and a design lecturer. In this case, the two lecturers were at the same university, but this is not essential as such collaborations could also be conducted via the Internet. The outcome was a series of three-minute videos explaining the immune response to an infectious agent. The students created them as part of the assessment for Still and Animated Typography for Creative Media, a subject in the Creative Arts Program at James Cook University, Australia. The videos were oriented to entry-level, tertiary immunology teaching and expressed as animated infographics with audio. The best works were selected and evaluated as supplemental resources in the immunology curriculum. PROCEDURE Storyboard design The initial script was written by the immunologist, followed by the creation of a detailed storyboard in collaboration with the design lecturer. The storyboard included shot-by-shot specifications …