Effects of pictures in textbooks on students' creativity article · June 015 citations reads 22,525 authors

EFFECTS OF PICTURES IN TEXTBOOKS ON STUDENTS’ 
CREATIVITY 
Sara Kasmaienezhadfard 
PhD Student in Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Science) 
University Putra Malaysia (UPM) 
Email: [e-mail]
Mo.: [phone]
Masoumeh Pourrajab 
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow 
Faculty of Education, University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia 
Email: [e-mail] & [e-mail]
Mohtaram Rabbani 
PhD Candidate in Psychology of Child Development 
University Putra Malaysia (UPM) 
Email: [e-mail]
1.
 
Introduction 
There were teachers in the traditional learning environment, which transferred knowledge 
to the students and even up to this day, nothing can replace this function of them (Roselan, 
2003). Based on some researches in most of countries textbooks are considered as a main source 
of education (Aslan, 2010). 
Textbook, can be one of the best sources if prepared appropriately in terms of both 
internal and external structures and visual design, it could be thought as an proficient tool in 
processes of teaching and learning (Aslan & Polat, 2008). Many experts in educational systems 
or in educational psychology accept that pictures can have effective role to instructional 
textbooks (Peeck, 1993). Textbooks are deemed as the heart of pedagogical activities. They are 
able to provide students a wide choice of new and fascinating facts and to create incredible 
experience (Mahmood, 2011; Thang et al., 2013b). Moreover, textbooks are easily accessible for 

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Multi Disciplinary Edu Global Quest (Quarterly), Volume4, Issue2#14, April 2015 
www.mdegq.com 
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students and teachers and they can use them according to their expectations. So the considerable 
issue is to choose the suitable textbook which needs a careful attention (Mahmood, 2011). 
Furthermore, there are many researches which show the importance of textbooks and 
images on student’s motivation and creativity. According to Litz (2005), generally textbooks 
have responsibility as facilitators in the teaching and learning processes. Richard’s opinion 
(1993) was that textbooks can present exciting, motivating and energetic materials which 
teachers are not able to prepare them for students (Sowat & Saluna, 2013). Without doubt, 
textbooks have essential functions. Most of the time they are considered as main appliances for 
providing content knowledge, textbooks can determine data and information which students need 
to them in a class and evaluate what students should do and should not learn (Freeman & 
Porter, 1989; Lebrun et al., 2002; Mahmood, 2011). The visual design and arrangement of a 
textbook can give prominence to some elements in the textbook. The students visualize and next 
understand words during illustrations in the textbooks (Hibbing & Rankin-Erickson, 2003). 
Images and pictures represent part of our reality. Regularly these images do not represent 
the whole, but to help students focus on experiences an important part of their live (Dimopoulos, 
Koulaidis, & Sklaveniti, 2003). Pictures are able to motivate students to study the attached text; 
they can increase attention or encourage more detailed processing of textual data which included 
in illustrations, also they can explain and make clear content that is not easy to understand, or 
they can aid to create nonverbal codes in addition verbal ones and thus increase recovery 
potential for the picture text content (Peeck, 1993). Through the use of pictures students can 
make active previous knowledge probably something like imagine what will happen in the future 
or occur in a remote location, recall past events (Cho & Kim, 1999). 
Furthermore some researchers have found that the level of Asian students’ creativity is 
lower than United States and Canada communities (Alias, Hadi, & Balkis, 2010). Student from 
United States has higher creativity level than Malaysian student (Chua, 2004). It is believed to 
main goal of education is that helping students to think productively and coordinating creative 
thinking (to create ideas) and critical thinking (to estimate ideas) (Paul, 1995). In traditional 
system of education, textbooks are considered as a more important resource in the classrooms, 
but evaluator do not pay attention to impact of pictures in the textbooks they just focus on 
content. According to Litz (2005) textbooks should correspond to learners’ needs, more over the 

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Multi Disciplinary Edu Global Quest (Quarterly), Volume4, Issue2#14, April 2015 
www.mdegq.com 
Page 86 
ISSN 2250 - 3048 
textbook should be designed base on proper methodology, the psychological, and linguistic 
principles have to consider accepted techniques of teaching (Williams, 1983). Sometimes 
pictures in textbooks have decorative role (Peeck, 1993) and in most cases illustrator of 
textbooks do not consider educational philosophy and student’s psychological needs in process 
of learning and in the pictures and illustrations. This is especially correct because making the 
creative society needs true basic education system (Morris, 2006). So humans have many 
creative potential to achieve, and primary reason is that children’s creativity is not nurtured in 
proper way. Subsequently the vital role of thinking, innovation and creativity is not fully 
developed and many people in some countries still do not care or appreciate the worth of 
creativity (Ishaq & Director, 2003) so these issues need more consideration in educational 
systems.