Developing Students' Visual-Creative Thinking Through Infographic Creation: A Pedagogical Specialization for Art and Design Education Students

Today, the use of modern technologies has become one of the fundamental requirements of the educational process. In particular, presenting newly introduced learning materials through infographics has become an increasingly relevant issue, as conventional information sources and various tables alone are not always sufficient to ensure effective comprehension and meaningful learning. In higher education, infographics are predominantly used as a presentation tool; however, their potential as a means of developing students’ visual and creative thinking has received comparatively little attention. To address this gap, the present article, focusing on professional teacher preparation in the field of fine arts, proposes a five-stage pedagogical technology and an aligned assessment system designed to develop visual-creative thinking among art and design students. Drawing on theoretical analysis, pedagogical observations conducted in fine arts studios, and expert evaluation, the article: (1) defines visual-creative thinking as an integrated construct comprising five interrelated components: visual perception, imaginative thinking, visual encoding, compositional and semantic organization, and creative originality; (2) describes the stages of the proposed pedagogical technology, namely motivational and diagnostic assessment, visual perception and analysis, conceptual modeling of the topic, creative design and presentation, and reflective evaluation; and (3) proposes an assessment framework consisting of five theoretically grounded criteria, each measured across three levels of development. A sample assignment for second-year students in a Painting course demonstrates how constraints derived from cognitive load theory can be applied in practice. The article does not claim empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed approach; instead, it concludes with a proposed quasi-experimental research design for its validation. The proposed framework provides art and design educators with a practical and assessable approach to facilitating the transition from understanding visual information to independently creating it within educational practice.