Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas [Paperback]

Nancy Margulies; Christine Valenza (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1904424562 | ISBN-13: 978-1904424567 | Publication Date: May 2005

Free yourself from the limiting belief that you can’t draw and move into the dynamic world of visible thinking for you and your students. The authors have compiled a symbolary of easy- to-draw iconographs that can be used to enrich communica- tion, provoke deeper thought, and make the process of creating Mind Maps and Mindscapes for note taking and review in your classroom a breeze. Visual Thinking breaks down the process of drawing into small steps so that anyone who thinks they cannot draw will find that in fact, they can. Visible thinking templates help students work through challenging problem-solving activities. As their thinking processes are recorded, students become more thorough and skillful in reaching conclusions and making decisions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Invaluable in helping students and educators to learn skills that are appropriate for communicating in today’s increasingly visual world. --Dee Dickinson, Chief Learning Officer, New Horizons for Learning

A wonderful, inviting workbook that gives you the basic tools for “speaking” visual language--the new international auxiliary language. --Robert E. Horn, author of Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century

About the Author

Nancy Margulies and Christine Valenza, two of the best-known visual facilitators in the business world, bring their expertise to the classroom and share their secrets for conveying complex ideas simply. If one picture is worth a thousand words, this book is worth millions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Crown House Publishing (May 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904424562
• ISBN-13: 978-1904424567
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy began her career as an author with a call from Zephyr Press (Tucson, AZ) asking if she could write a "book on doodling". She wrote, Mapping Inner Space, a book that goes way beyond doodling and inspires parents, teachers and learners of all ages to learn to put their ideas on paper using images and limited words. The book was a best-seller for a decade for Zephyr Press and as a result they asked Nancy to create comics for them videos, and other products that helped students understand the ways they are smart. Nancy wen ton to write other books for various publishers and is currently completing a book about memories of childhood abuse that is illustrated like a watercolor journal. In addition Nancy has worked around the world with such well-respected authors as Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley as well as with President Clinton, Al Gore and their Cabinet. Still reading? You may want to visit www.NancyMargulies.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite disappointed by this new book & with the two authors!, September 13, 2005

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas (Paperback)

I am quite disappointed by this new book & with the two authors, whose past work I am most familiar with. Having read (& reviewed with gusto!) the principal author's two earlier pieces of work i.e. Mapping InnerSpace, I find this book to be somewhat of a letdown.

It is natural that I would compare this book with `Mapping InnerSpace.' Much of the material in the new book has apparently been rehashed from the earlier work. The only new stuff I can find is the `symbolary' of easy-to-draw iconographs, which is now been re-organized from A to Z, & a handful of new `Mindscaping' application templates in the last chapter. That's it.

Surprisingly, the authors even continue to make use of the same Foreword, which goes back to the late 80's & which appeared in the first book.

I get this funny feeling that the new book has been based on perfunctory desk research & no attempt has been exerted to conduct some real field research to cover new developments or advancements. Worst of all, & sad to say, the material is still restricted to the authors' own limited field of work.

Based on my own exploration, the field of visual thinking has obviously made tremendous progress in the last few years, in both the educational & business arenas. A quick search & browse across the net will give readers a good appreciation of what has happened/is happening out there.

I actually expect the authors to provide a quick round-up (or snapshot) of developments & happenings with regard to new & exciting visual thinking applications across the educational as well as business realms. There have been abundant application variations as well as radical enhancements in the field of visual thinking for business professionals. I am well aware that field research is no easy task in the light of many proprietary methods, but with a little ingenuity & persistent legwork, it would have been rewarding for both authors to go the extra mile. The new book, taking into consideration the prevailing developments outside their own sphere, would have been great for all the readers, especially the professionals.

For examples, the creative work of heavy weights in the field of visual thinking as applied to business & industry, like Jim Channon (large system imagineering with Advanced Visual Language), David Sibbet (graphical visualisation of organisational change with template-based methodology) & Matt Taylor (creative augmentation, with artful integration of visual space technologies, collaborative environments, & knowledge-intensive work processes), to name a few, have not been captured &/or exemplified. Not even in the Resources page. I am also very intrigued as to why the innovative work of Christine Allen Ewy (Teaching with Visual Frameworks) & Elizabeth H Wig (Map It Out: Visual Tools for Thinking, Organizing & Communicating) is not even captured in the Resources. There are many others.

In today's technology-savvy world, there is no mention of using technology to augment one's visual thinking approach. The Mind-manager software quickly comes to mind. Xplanations is another innovative one. There are many others, too.

In these respects, the book does not stand up to its title, Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas.

For the beginner, particularly a teacher or a parent or a student, who is currently looking for plain visual thinking approaches, this book still stands as great work. I would attribute this to the wonderful symbolary.

To sum up my review, I reluctantly rate this book a 3 in the light of my foregoing comments, although it deserves a 5 in terms of useful & practical learning for the beginner in the field of visual thinking.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educators: Take a look!, September 23, 2005

By 

B. T. Doyle (Springfield, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas (Paperback)

"I was brought up believing that "I cant draw" and I was hesitant to get this book, but I am so glad that I did! Reading and practicing with "Visual Thinking," I began to feel more confident in my ability to teach others using "pictures" that are worth more than a thousand words! There are so many students these days who have difficulties with language and comprehension when only the written word is used, but who are able to comprehend and express themselves very clearly and in detail when using symbols. So many wonderful templates are provided in the book that students and teachers can use to teach, learn,record information and review. Mapping with symbols as suggested in this book allows us to see connections that we might otherwise overlook. It is a fun text, easy to use and well done in every way! Thanks to the authors!"

B

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Teachers and Students!, October 11, 2005

By 

Patt Sheldon (El Granada, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas (Paperback)

Visual Thinking is a book made for teachers who want to help their students use images and words to record ideas in a creative and memorable way. That is why I, as a middle school teacher, find it so appealing. The "symbolary" gives you hundreds of easy to draw images and there are many templates, too, that encourage visual thinking -- that is using visual metaphors to think through challenges, make plans and more. I think you will find many uses for this book! I certainly did.