Comics and graphic novels are increasingly valued as a legitimate medium, both literary and visual. This panel focuses on approaches to using comics in the classroom by both teaching comics and using comics to teach. Lesley S. J. Farmer (California State University, Long Beach) describes how comics and comic cons help learners comprehend, critique, and create through the particular way comics structure knowledge. Rebecca Thompson (American Physical Society) discusses APS's series of comics designed to teach physics and demonstrates how a compelling comic story, delicately balancing education and entertainment, can excite students who might otherwise be turned off by traditional teaching. Derek Held (Temecula Valley High School) discards arbitrary limitations on which comics should be taught and demonstrates how mainstream "floppies" can be used to teach classical literary theory and critical reading skills at the secondary level.
