Two-thirds of students reported limitations of data comics: information overload, limited generalisability, design-dependence, and oversimplification¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Thirty-six participants cited limitations, most commonly information overload (N=18), with busy layouts that distract and slow reading. → Zirui Shan 2026 q2 i? Participants also judged comics less suitable for complex multi-dimensional comparisons and formal contexts, and highly dependent on author design choices. → Zirui Shan 2026

Evidence¶

Zirui Shan 2026¶

Zirui Shan, Vanessa Echeverria, Yuheng Li, Yi-Shan Tsai, and Roberto Martinez-Maldonado. (2026). Data Comics for Education: Evaluating Effectiveness, Benefits, and the Ethics of AI-Assisted Creation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.02361 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2607.02361

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Thematic analysis of the same open-ended responses (kappa 0.81 for limitations) yielded four limitation themes: information overload, less generalisable application, more design-centric and author-guided delivery, and partial information presentation or oversimplification.

"Two-thirds of participants (N=36) highlighted limitations in data comics, primarily citing information overload (N=18)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students perceived data comics as more accessible, more engaging, and easier to retain information from than conventional visualisations — related
• Students raised ethical concerns about GenAI-assisted data comic creation, most frequently misinformation, bias, ownership, and reduced trustworthiness — related
• University students achieved a significantly higher correct rate answering data questions with data comics than with conventional visualisations — related