ABSTRACT
As we enter the twenty-first century, biology texts and classroom laboratory exercises are making increasingly greater use of high-tech microscopic images (micrographs) in teaching important biological concepts in topical areas ranging from cytology to systematics. Indeed, up to a third of the total pages in today's introductory biology texts may be allocated to graphics (Frazier, 1991). Yet, research shows that introductory biology students frequently bypass the micrographs in their textbooks because they find them incomprehensible and because their understanding of micrographs is seldom tested on biology examinations (Frazier, 1991; Nist and Kirby, 1989). If, as Novak and Gowin (1984) argue, 'to learn meaningfully, individuals must chose to relate new knowledge to relevant concepts and propositions they already know' (p. 7), then we must promote such choosing and attempt to bridge the gap between students' current knowledge and the new knowledge we would like them to learn.
