Welcome to the portfolio of Charles Acheson, Ph.d.
Charles Acheson is an educator and designer who harnesses comics to improve educational outcomes.
Charles Acheson is an educator and designer who harnesses comics to improve educational outcomes.
Throughout my professional career, I’ve worked at the crossroads of comics and education, serving as an instructional designer at Vanderbilt University and an instructor at the University of Florida, while researching, publishing, and creating comics covering an array of topics. Through this work, I’ve learned that the storytelling power of comics can be harnessed for education as well.
Through the verbal-visual hybridity of comics, the emphasis on pacing, and readerly engagement, the comics medium functions as a framework for enhancing asynchronous education. If you have read the safety guide on a flight or put together furniture from IKEA, you've seen this idea in action. Comics provide information succinctly and in a method that encourages retention.
That’s the foundation of my pedagogy: drawing on the power of comics to design learning experiences that are not only effective, but memorable—experiences that resonate with learners long after the module ends.

More info forthcoming.

More info forthcoming.

More info forthcoming.

More info forthcoming.

Built using Storyline 360, and in conjunction with subject matter expert Matt Knieling, this learning module teaches learners how to create their comic book using simple materials. Employing extensive interactive elements, this module is a personal passion project as a current comics maker, researcher, and former college comics instructor.

Created as a personal learning exercise, this learning module explains how to play Knucklebones, a unique dice game originally from the video game Cult of the Lamb. Designed in Storyline 360, this guide teaches new players how to play the game and what they need to get started through guided instruction, videos, and activities.

Authored in Storyline 360, this is a personal professional development practice module. Using boiling line animation ("squiggle vision"), the learning module explains the odd nature, logic, and implementation of one of baseball/softball's most esoteric rules: the Infield Fly. Click the link below to view it for yourself!

"Neo-Springfield Is About to E*X*P*L*O*D*E" is a comics essay that examines the nuclear histories of The Simpsons and Akira through the lens of Bartkira, a transnational remix comic that mashes together the original texts. Using the comics medium, this essay introduces remix and transnational theories for readers unfamiliar with those theories, as well as the unique Bartkira production.

The "Project Concept Statement" is a learning course that I developed for University of Florida students as they created their critical-making projects to complement their learning in my courses. Authored using Rise 360, this course teaches students the purpose of writing a project concept statement, how to write one, and when to rewrite the document.

"Crafting Your Creator Statement" is a micro-learning opportunity authored in Rise 360 for University of Florida students. Based on the principles of an artist statement, this module encourages students to view themselves as creators and instructs them on how to craft one for personal and professional use.
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