Redesigning
Korean History Textbook

| Senior researcher Hyelim Lim
| Researchers Yongju Yoo, Yejin Wi
| Advisor Kyungsun Kymn

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History has been one of the most boring classes for Korean high school students. To interest students more in Korean history, this project proposes an interaction-based solution to make the learning process more enjoyable for students.

SYNOPSIS
When the Ministry of Education authorized the use of textbooks published by private publishers, there has been a huge debate about the decision. The debate raised a number of questions about the learning efficiency of the history textbooks authored by the government and the private publishers. It was not only about the content but also about the format itself. In this project, I analyzed history textbooks published by private publishers. Focusing on the interaction and experience aspect, I also proposed a new textbook design.

Is it possible to make students more interested in history? This project aims to make history classes more interesting to students by re-designing the textbook. I surveyed 6 different history textbooks used in Korean high schools to explore whether I can enhance the learning experience and efficiency by improving every design component of the textbooks.

CHALLENGE
Editors of history textbooks have been mainly focusing on the content itself rather than attempting to carefully integrate visual elements with the contents. They did not pay enough attention to editorial design, failing to provide compelling editing, layout, infographics, typography and color. Even though properly using visual elements can greatly improve the process of learning, the design elements in the textbooks I surveyed failed to play an important role in facilitating the learning interaction.

DESIGN GOALS

Visually organized and easy-to-read textbooks
A textbook that enhances the education effect to the students.
A textbook that learners can participate in

KEYWORDS
Korean History Textbooks, Layout Study, Redesigning, Inforgrahics for Korean History

DESIGN MOTIF
The layout of the newly designed textbook follows that of the books published during the Cho-sun dynasty.

PAPER-BASED PROPOSAL
The layout is designed for both e-book and paper version.

ANALYSIS

DEVELOPING PROCESS
Every formal meetings for the project, each members have written a research journal in turn. The whole detailed story and analysis are included.