Though I haven’t had a chance to look at it directly, in a soon to be published study in Business Communication Quarterly, it has been shown that “graphic novels are more effective than traditional textbooks for direct recall of material.” The study used material about human motivation commonly taught in introductory management courses. In addition to the superior recall associated with the graphic novel version of the material, more than 80% of students indicated the graphic novel format compared favorably to traditional textbooks.

One of the co-authers is Professor Jeremy Short, the Rath Chair in Strategic Management at the Price College of Business. Professor Short has published over 50 articles, numerous book chapters, and the first Harvard Business School case in graphic novel format, Atlas Black: The Complete Adventure which you can read the first chapter for free.

Professor Short will be teaching a class beginning June 10 and ending July 15, that is free under the Massive Management Open Online Course (MOOC) and feature a graphic novel textbook along with traditional principles of management.

University of Oklahoma students can enroll through regular registration and take the course for credit, but anyone interested in the class can enroll for free under the non-credit option. The only cost then is the two texts, which can be purchased for less than $100.

The class is hosted through an OU site. Check out the video highlighting OU and the course below.

Here’s Professor Short talking about education and graphic novels at TedxOU.