Turning the Page on a Missed Opportunity: Science Comics Through the Eyes of Future Elementary Teachers

Student Motivation and Engagement

Comics were consistently identified as powerful tools for capturing student motivation and engagement, with 15 out of 19 participants highlighting this as a key advantage. Participants emphasized that comics are perceived as more appealing because of the visual dimension: “If I give them a bunch of words to read, it’s really boring… But if it’s an attractive comic, with colors and good design, they’ll read it” (P18). This appeal is further reinforced by the use of humor and narrative elements that capture students’ interest. Moreover, comics were seen as innovative resources that can break the monotony of lecture-style lessons: “I think it can draw them in, because it’s something new – it’ll be new for them and might spark their interest” (P15). However, some participants also pointed out potential limitations. One concern was that not all students might relate to the comic format or could associate it primarily with language subjects, reducing its effectiveness in science education. As one participant explained:

Perhaps the fact that students may not enjoy comics that much or may not identify with certain types of comics… and the fact that they might associate comics with Portuguese subject could then become a barrier to learning science, and also the fact that they might simply have other interests (P19).

Two participants also raised the broader issue of students’ motivation to read. One of them, while recognizing comics as a strategy to spark interest, highlighted the inherent challenge of engaging students with any reading material. He described this as somewhat contradictory: “It’s a bit contradictory ... it’s reading, and students nowadays are not used to reading, I think it’s always a challenge to get their attention, even if it’s just those little speech bubbles” (P15). These reflections suggest that, while comics are seen as engaging, their effectiveness may still be conditioned by students’ general (lack of) reading habits and motivation.

Conceptual Understanding

Of the 19 study participants, 12 (63%) commonly acknowledged comics’ strengths in facilitating memorization and comprehension of complex, abstract concepts. Text-image integration was seen as offering multimodal representations that make difficult ideas more accessible: “It helps students understand, as I mentioned, once they have both the text and the image, making the connection between them becomes much easier” (P19). Participants recognized that visual elements could enhance comprehension where traditional verbal instruction might fall short, as one noted:

I think it can help, because as they really like the visual part, it can help them understand some content that perhaps if we are just saying, talking, has no meaning, but perhaps if it's a comic about some subject we are teaching, perhaps it even gets into their heads more (P14).

Despite these perceived advantages, participants also expressed concerns about comics’ capacity to promote accurate conceptual understanding. One participant highlighted potential issues with scientific accuracy in existing comics:

In comics that already exist, that are already written... Perhaps the question of scientific integrity, whether that is really completely correct, because sometimes the stories end up tending to change things a little bit, because sometimes it makes more sense for the story (P07).

Others worried about comics’ ability to convey fundamental scientific concepts:

When we are attributing characters, I also have concerns. When we talk, for example, about cells, I think many of them don't understand well the dimension and the concept itself. Comics can help with this, but it also has this factor that they don’t get to the essence, the real concept of, for example, the cell or the chloroplast, [comics might] create other dimensions... they already have a very wrong idea of the dimension of cells and other concepts, and if we use comics... I don’t know if it helps in that aspect (P02).

Additionally, two participants also identified risks that attractive visual elements might distract from intended learning objectives. As one participant observed: “I think the main disadvantage is that in the first few minutes they might get distracted, they’ll focus on the characters, and if the theoretical part isn't substantial enough, or the text isn't very well distributed, they can get lost” (P13). These concerns highlight a fundamental pedagogical tension between necessary simplification for accessibility and maintaining scientific rigor, a challenge that requires specific mediation skills that many teachers may not currently possess.

Development of Skills

A smaller subset of participants (5 out of 19, 26%) valued both the creation and interpretation of comics as pedagogical strategies that foster a range of competencies, including creativity, critical thinking, literacy, and interdisciplinary learning. As one participant noted: “Creating science comics can be an excellent way to apply what they know, in a creative way” (P03). Another added: “It’s a way to introduce a different type of reading” (P08). Simultaneously, five participants acknowledged that comics comprehension demands specific interpretive skills that students may not inherently possess, including sequential reading abilities, visual cue interpretation, and inferential reasoning beyond literal text. As one participant explained: “Because the content shouldn’t be overly explicit, the challenge lies in encouraging readers to go beyond the surface of words and achieve genuine comprehension. This requires much more deliberate and reflective exploration” (P05). Notably, two participants highlighted comics as a medium for developing competencies while also acknowledging that these same competencies are prerequisites for effective comics comprehension, revealing an inherent pedagogical tension in implementation. This recognition underscores the need for intentional pedagogical scaffolding to develop students’ visual literacy and interpretive competencies when implementing comic-based instruction.

Inclusion and Diversity of Student Profiles

While other potential benefits such as engagement and comprehension can indirectly support inclusion, four participants explicitly identified comics as having direct inclusive potential. They particularly emphasized benefits for students with learning difficulties or whose first language differs from the instructional language: “It helps students with more difficulties or a different mother tongue because they can easily associate the text with the image” (P19).

Scientific Knowledge Construction

Three participants also highlighted comics’ narrative structure as effective means for representing scientific knowledge construction through dramatizing historical scientific discoveries or simulating investigative processes: “You can make a comic about how the cell was discovered, with scientists talking and making discoveries” (P03). However, participants noted this potential isn’t automatically realized; it depends on storyline quality, learning objective clarity, and scientific content alignment: “It really depends on the comic - how it’s built. It has to be a well-thought-out, cleverly designed resource” (P05). From the participants’ perspective, this underscores the need for intentional pedagogical design when using comics to teach science. The analysis across all these dimensions reveals a consistent pattern: while participants widely recognized comics’ educational potential, they also acknowledged that this potential is not automatically realized. More than half of the participants (10 out of 19, 53%) consistently identified that effective comic integration depends on critical implementation conditions. A key recurring idea was the central role of teachers and employed teaching methodologies, with comics viewed not as automatic solutions but as resources whose educational value depends largely on implementation approach: “I think it depends a lot on how we use the resources” (P17). Participants also highlighted the importance of adapting comics to student interests, profiles, and motivations, tailoring resources to particular classroom contexts. Finally, they stressed that pedagogical impact relies on careful comic construction, narrative quality, coherence, and learning objective alignment. This cross-cutting insight underscores that the realization of comics’ pedagogical potential requires intentional pedagogical design and skilled mediation by educators.

Limited Availability and Accessibility of Educational Comics

A major challenge reported by 16 participants was the scarcity of suitable science comics. Globally, participants expressed a widespread lack of awareness about existing science comics, with some categorically stating: “I think they don’t exist. I, at least, have never seen any” (P03). However, even among those who acknowledged the possible existence of science comics, significant concerns emerged regarding content alignment with curricular requirements. One participant exemplifies this challenge the following way: “There must be comics related to science, but perhaps not addressing exactly the content that needs to be covered (...) I probably wouldn’t find any comic that had exactly the topics I needed” (P04). This dual challenge—the perceived lack of resources and their potential inadequacy for specific curricular objectives—represents a key barrier to implementation. Participants highlighted not only the lack of science comics but also the absence of a centralized database or repository that would facilitate access to science comics by specific themes or topics. According to one participant:

I don't know, and I haven't had anyone tell me about a database where there were comics intended for science by themes ... not having this database probably contributes to teachers not wanting to work with comics because it involves time searching (P06).

This organizational gap is compounded by poor discoverability, with participants reporting that “if we search for a topic, a comic resource is not immediately available” (P10) and that “if they exist, access is poorly publicized” (P03). These observations indicate that potentially suitable resources may remain invisible to teachers due to ineffective distribution and indexing systems, creating additional barriers even when materials might theoretically be available. Given this scarcity, participants identified creating their own resources as a significant challenge demanding specific skills and additional time: “It’s necessary (...) not only for the teacher to master comics (...) to master scientific concepts (...) and to be able to connect them to create a story” (P03). The combination of limited time and lack of ready-to-use materials seems to generate a reinforcing cycle: because few comics are available, teachers must create them; yet, the time and expertise required to do so make this unlikely, which in turn sustains the scarcity of resources.

Despite the identified limitations, some participants recognize the potential of new technologies to overcome these barriers. For example, one participant, a future teacher who had used comics during her teaching practicum, mentioned the use of artificial intelligence for creating comics: “we were helped by artificial intelligence (...) technology nowadays, when it’s well used and when we know how to use it, makes things much easier for us” (P06). This approach represents a possible solution to resource scarcity, although it still requires specific technical skills and considerable preparation time from teachers.

Curricular Constraints and Time Pressure

Of the 19 teachers who participated in the study, 8 explicitly mentioned curricular constraints, highlighting the systemic nature of the problem. Participants reported feeling pressure to cover extensive content within tight timeframes, which left little space for pedagogical innovation:

Maybe also in relation to the classroom time we have, at least it’s something I’ve been feeling a lot now. It's all very rushed. Sometimes I don't even have enough time to answer students' questions about science, because they have many questions. I often feel pressed for time, so maybe doing a comic or addressing something related to that would be harder (P04).

Additionally, science is often allocated less instructional time than subjects more directly linked to national assessments. This imbalance contributes to its marginalization within the curriculum. According to participants, these constraints reduce teachers’ flexibility to experiment with alternative pedagogical tools like comics, reinforcing existing barriers to their integration in science instruction.

Social Perceptions and Cultural Status of Comics

Five participants explicitly identified the social perception of comics as a significant barrier to their adoption in science education. The data reveals that future teachers and newly qualified elementary teachers recognize multiple forms of resistance that may arise from parents, colleagues, and educational institutions regarding the use of comics as a pedagogical resource. One of the primary concerns centers on the devaluation of comics as a legitimate educational tool since comics are often perceived as simplistic or intellectually undemanding. According to one participant “There’s a tendency to see comics as something simplistic, like a crutch for people who can’t really read a proper text” (P03). This perception often aligns with the idea that comics do not meet the standards of “good literature,” which leads to their exclusion from more culturally valued pedagogical practices. “It gives off the impression of poor literature, like it’s just for entertainment. But it can be an intelligent resource, with complete vocabulary and even literary richness” (P03). This social resistance includes anticipated reactions from parents, who may see comics as disconnected from academic purposes: “When we talk about comics, the first thing that comes to mind is not education. It’s like… Uncle Scrooge. I think many parents wouldn’t take it seriously” (P01). Nonetheless, some participants believed that this resistance could be overcome by demonstrating the educational potential of comics through concrete practice. “If well explored, I think they’d end up liking it. But the first reaction might be negative” (P01).

Comics are also frequently affected by stereotypes related to student age. Participants noted that comics are still widely associated with young children, which hinders their use with older students: “There’s a stereotype that comics are for kids. It’s like we’re not allowed to use them with older students, even if the content fits” (P16). In addition, two participants pointed out that comics tend to be viewed exclusively as resources for language education, which prevents comics from being recognized as versatile tools that can support learning across a variety of subjects. Despite the challenges identified, participants proposed strategies to shift existing perceptions and foster broader acceptance of comics in education. These strategies rely on social validation through practice, that is, making the educational value of comics visible to others in the school community.

Lack of Institutional Support in Teacher Education

A related but distinct issue, mentioned spontaneously by five participants, concerns the invisibility of comics within initial teacher education. These participants stressed that comics were never addressed in their courses. In some cases, participants also expressed broader criticisms of their teacher education, pointing to a disconnect between theory and practice and to missed opportunities for sharing concrete strategies and classroom-tested resources. This perceived gap was seen as limiting not only the use of comics, but pedagogical innovation more broadly.

When asked directly, only 2 out of the 19 participants reported any reference to comics during their preparation program. While most participants had no exposure to comics in their preparation, one participant offered a contrasting example, underscoring the power of initial teacher education in legitimizing certain approaches. She argued that if certain approaches or tools are not addressed during initial teacher education, they are unlikely to be recognized as pedagogically valuable. Drawing on her own experience, where comics were discussed during her teacher preparation, she reflected: “If no one had ever talked to me about comics, even if they appeared in a textbook, I wouldn’t have paid attention. But now I do, because it was discussed in my teacher education” (P06). Her account highlights how visibility and encouragement in formal education can help future teachers view comics as legitimate educational resources, and how the lack of such exposure can function as a barrier.

Resistance to Innovation

Ten participants recognized that many teachers tend to stay within their comfort zones and avoid adopting new approaches or materials such as comics. As one participant explained, familiarity plays a big role in shaping teaching choices:

We always have more difficulty going for what’s new… We tend to stay in our comfort zone. I use a lot of games in my classes because I already know them. I don’t go for other things, like comics, because I don’t know them that well (P04).

Lack of Personal Preferences and Motivation

Nine participants also mentioned the lack of personal interest in comics, which influences motivation to explore or consider them as educational tools. According to one participant: “I have no interest in comics, and if no one had talked to me about it, it would never have crossed my mind” (P02). Another participant also acknowledged the weight of personal taste: “It comes a lot from personal preferences. As teachers, we’re human, and our ideas come from our experiences. If I hadn’t had a brother who liked comics, I would never have thought of an activity using them” (P09).

Lack of Familiarity and Knowledge

Another internal barrier identified by eight participants was their limited knowledge and lack of familiarity with comics as an educational resource. This unfamiliarity was often rooted in their personal trajectories as students and future teachers, where comics were almost invisible. Without prior exposure, many struggled to imagine how comics could be used meaningfully in science education.

It’s much easier to think of using PowerPoint or a video, because you see that it is being used all the time. Since I’ve never seen anything like comics being used, it never even occurs to me to use them to teach. (P08)

According to some participants, these constraints do not stem from a lack of interest, but rather from the absence of preparation, practical guidance, and pedagogical support that could help them use comics confidently and purposefully in their teaching.

Teachers’ Beliefs

Only two participants mentioned that teachers’ underlying beliefs about teaching, learning, and the role of educational materials could also serve as internal barriers.

Some people are more focused on content acquisition, and they tend to rely on more mechanical learning and traditional resources. But someone who is really concerned with the development of the whole person will seek out more complex resources and try to relate different things. (P03)

This perspective suggests that the perceived legitimacy of comics as a pedagogical tool may depend on how teachers conceptualize learning—whether as the transmission of discrete knowledge or as a process of meaning-making that integrates different forms of representation and supports broader educational goals. In addition to broader beliefs about teaching and learning, two other participants revealed specific perceptions about comics themselves that may function as constraints. One participant articulated this view clearly: “In my mind I associate comics more with entertainment themes, social commentary, and not so much with scientific things” (P11).