Our research strives to improve STEM curriculum by producing science comics for use in K-12 education, college education, and adult learning. A major difficulties in STEM education is the difficulty that students have in becoming engaged with the concepts and developing deeper comprehension. Our solution is the integration of comics into the curriculum as supportive teaching tools.
Most comics here were written by STEM educators, with art commissioned from either professional or student artists. Some comics were produced by students as part of course projects, with their permission given to share the content. Copyright on all comics is retained by the creators; comics may be used directly in classrooms with permission.
Science comics have been grouped based on their general background and courses that they may be best utilized with – a high-resolution file is accessible through each of the links below. If you are interested in contributing to the assessment of the comics and their implementation, please let us know!
General Science and Engineering:
“Uncertainty” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Amanda Kahl
“Data Analysis” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Beth Sparks
“Assumptions” – written by Chris Cogswell and Lucas Landherr, drawn by Carey Pietsch
Biology:
“Gene Therapy” – written by Zoe Simonson, drawn by Monica Keszler, edited by Lucas Landherr
Chemical Engineering
Mass and Energy Balances:
“Recycle and Purge Streams” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Matt Lubchansky
Thermodynamics:
“Refrigeration Cycles” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler
“Fugacity” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Joan Cooke
Transport:
“Heat Exchangers” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Matt Lubchansky
Process Controls:
“PID Controls” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Mary J. Lai
Student-Produced Work
The following comics were produced by students as projects for a curriculum construction assignment.
Momentum Transfer:
“Viscosity” – written and compiled by Savanna Burchett and Macy Parchment
“Shell Balances” – written and compiled by Avita Abi-Elias and Julia Treese
Heat Transfer:
“Heat Transfer Overview” – written and drawn by Bailey Ritchie and Tiffany Miao
“Heat Transfer Overview” – written and drawn by Alex Censullo and Siobhan Powers
“Heat Transfer Overview” – written and drawn by Jennifer Union
“Heat Transfer Overview” – written and drawn by Yvonne DeSouter and Yena Shin
“Conduction and Convection” – written and drawn by Andrew McGlynn and Lukas Morgan
“Composite Materials” – written and drawn by Sara Canzano
“Thermal Resistance” – written and drawn by Sophia Little
“Thermal Resistance” – written and compiled by Sagi Ravid and Matthew Schwartz
“Fins” – written and compiled by Emily Cady and Lauren Tips
“Fins” – written and drawn by Max Kleiman-Lynch
“Convection” – written and drawn by Abdulrahman Al Mashaan
“Convection” – written and drawn by Katelyn Ripley and Michael Nguy
“Heat Exchangers” – written and drawn by Amy Sevigny and Rachel Vozikis
“Heat Exchangers” – written and drawn by Daniel Vosburg and Matt Witkowsky
“Heat Exchangers” – written and drawn by Andi Shehu
“Heat Exchangers” – written and drawn by Jacob Wilson
“Heat Exchangers” – written and compiled by Caroline Mills and Evelyn Soon
“Boiling” – written and drawn by Alexandra Deeck and Lexi Laundry
Education and Pedagogy
The following comics are produced quarterly for the peer-reviewed journal Chemical Engineering Education as the series Drawn To Engineering.
“Problem Solvers” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Matt Lubchansky (CEE, 51, 2, 2017, 62-63)
“Humor In Exams” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 51, 3, 2017, 151-152)
“Presenting Audiences” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 51, 4, 2017, 163-164)
“The Question Question” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Matt Lubchansky (CEE, 52, 1, 2018, 31-32)
“Diversity Statement” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 52, 2, 2018, 115-116)
“Skeleton Notes” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 52, 3, 2018, 221-222)
“Exams Are Alive With The Sound Of Music” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 52, 4, 2018, 294-295)
“Idea Theft” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 53, 1, 2019, 63-64)
“Evolving Your Teaching” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 53, 2, 2019)
“Illumination” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 53, 3, 2019)
“TA Doesn’t Stand For Tomato Attack” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Monica Keszler (CEE, 53, 4, 2019)
“Mentoring: In Honor of Phil Wankat” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Dee Nguyen (CEE,53, 1, 2020)
“The Show Must Go On” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Dee Nguyen (CEE, 53, 2, 2020)
“Bad Ideas” – written by Lucas Landherr, drawn by Yakira Becker (CEE, 54, 3, 2020)
Illustrations
Our group has created supporting illustrations for articles in the scientific journal Matter.
“ ‘Applied’ Sensory Evaluation”, written by Lucas Landherr and drawn by Monica Keszler, Figure 1 in “On the Sensory Analysis of Matter and Materials” by Pan, N. and Pan, T. Matter, 2019, 1:1, P13-16.
“Limited Building Materials on Mars”, written by Lucas Landherr and drawn by Monica Keszler, Figure 1 in “Martian Material Sourcing Challenges Propel Earth Construction Opportunities” by Troemner, M. and Cusatis, G. Matter, 2019, 1:3, P547-549.
“The “Applied” Science Time Frame“, written by Lucas Landherr and drawn by Erin Y. Kim, Figure 1 in “Fifty Years Is Not A Lot Of Time!” by Zadpoor, A.A. Matter, 2019, 1:5, PS1096-1098.
“Food-Inspired Equivalents of Archetype Rejections“, written by Lucas Landherr and drawn by Dee Nguyen, Figure 1 in “4 Archetype Reasons for Editorial Rejection” by Chin, S.M. and Cranford, S.W. Matter, 2020, 2:1, PS4-6.
“Citation Economy“, written by Lucas Landherr and drawn by Sophia Hitt, Figure 1 in “C.R.E.A.M: Citations Rule Everything Around Me” by Cranford, S. Matter, 2020, 2:6, P1343-1347.