Comic-book character diagnostic evaluation assignment

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q1 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

An instructional element in which students select an instructor-approved graphic novel, choose a character, "perform a m ock clinical evalu ation, and provide a written psychological report". The report must include client demographics, referral reason, psychosocial history, assessment procedures, differential diagnosis with rule-out rationale, DSM-IV-TR multiaxial diagnoses, case formulation, prevalence and incidence, treatments, treatment recommendations, and prognosis. Comic books were chosen because symptomatology is not presented as straightforwardly as in film, challenging students to develop clinical acumen.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Students submit their chosen graphic novel for instructor approval; the instructor provided a list of potential comic books in the syllabus and arranged for a local comic book store's employees to offer selection assistance

Constraints

• The version used was possible because of the authors' familiarity with the medium; none of the experimental students selected a graphic novel the authors had not read, which the authors note will not hold for all instructors

Target Learners

• undergraduate psychology majors in an abnormal psychology course

Learning Goals

• diagnostic evaluation skills
• DSM-IV-TR diagnosis
• clinical report writing

Claims

• Comic Book Diagnostic Assignment Quiz Gain [+M]
• Prior constructivist-inspired abnormal psychology assignments (mock client interviews, famous-person diagnoses, novels, historical figures, song lyrics) were reported favourably by students [+W]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Rahman, R. O. & Zeglin, R. J. (2014). Holy psychopathology Batman: The pedagogical use of comic books in the teaching of abnormal psychology. Psychology Teaching Review, 20(1). https://www.bps.org.uk/journals/psychology-teaching-review

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	comic-book-character-diagnostic-assignment
title	Comic-book character diagnostic evaluation assignment
description	An instructional element in which students select an instructor-approved graphic novel, choose a character, "perform a m ock clinical evalu ation, and provide a written psychological report".
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-01
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — rahman-2014

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