Drawing -- in this case biological illustration -- can be a surprisingly powerful learning tool. Best part of this article is discussion of the hidden pitfalls that hold back smart students from learning how to draw!

I particularly like this line: Real life isn’t neatly divided by subject.

My students’ difficulties with math, writing and psychology seemed overwhelming at first (“How am I supposed to teach biology, illustration AND these topics too? I don’t have enough time in the semester for all of this!”). My first solution was to ignore the problems.

Of course, the problems didn’t go away. And now that I was aware of them, I saw more and more of my students encountering the same obstacles.

Then I realized what those educators in the 1930s had missed. The goal of my biological illustration course is not the product, it’s the process. The power of my course is in its interdisciplinary nature – not just because it combines biology and illustration, but because it forces students to recognize their own weaknesses in a whole array of knowledge and skills. Real life isn’t neatly divided by subject.