You know that feeling when you’ve explained something in three different ways, and you’re still met with blank stares? We’ve all been there. But what if there were a simple technique that could help pupils understand and remember tricky concepts more effectively — without doubling your workload?

Say hello to dual coding. It’s not a gimmick or a fancy add-on. It’s a powerful teaching strategy that combines words and visuals to help pupils grasp and retain information more successfully. This blog will walk you through exactly how to use dual coding in lesson planning — step by step — so you can give it a go in your very next lesson.

What Exactly Is Dual Coding?

Dual coding is a cognitive science principle that involves presenting information through two channels: verbal (spoken or written words) and visual (images, diagrams, charts). When both are used together — in a meaningful and aligned way — it strengthens understanding and improves memory.

Our brains are naturally wired to process visual and verbal information differently, so combining the two helps reinforce ideas and build connections. But it’s not just about slapping a picture next to a paragraph. For dual coding to be effective, the visuals need to complement the words, not distract from them.

Step 1: Get Clear on the Core Content

Before you even open your PowerPoint or pick up a whiteboard marker, you need to identify what you want your pupils to learn. What’s the big idea or essential knowledge they need to take away from the lesson?

Let’s say you’re teaching the rock cycle in science. Your focus might include the names of the rock types, how they’re formed, and how they change over time. Nail this down first — your visuals will only be useful if they’re clearly tied to these core concepts.

Step 2: Choose What to Represent Visually

Not everything benefits from a visual explanation. Abstract ideas like “justice” or “freedom” can be difficult to illustrate, but processes, structures, and sequences? Perfect candidates for dual coding.

Think about where pupils typically get stuck. If you’re explaining how blood flows through the heart, or how a bill becomes law, that’s the moment to pause and ask: Could a diagram make this clearer?

Choose one or two key ideas that would be significantly easier to understand if pupils could see them as well as hear about them. Keep it simple, focused, and purposeful.

Step 3: Create or Source Your Visuals

Now for the fun bit. You don’t need a design degree — stick figures, arrows, and simple shapes can be surprisingly effective. The aim is clarity, not perfection.

You might draw your own diagrams, adapt something from a textbook, or use digital tools like Canva, PowerPoint, or Jamboard. If pupils are copying the diagram into their books, make sure it’s not overloaded with labels or colour — they need to be able to recreate it easily, too.

The key is to design visuals that directly support what you’re saying, and that can be broken down step by step during the explanation. Avoid the temptation to make it “look nice” — if it’s not helping comprehension, it’s not helping at all.

Step 4: Pair Visuals and Language Carefully

This is where dual coding really works its wonders.  Your explanation and your visuals should work together, like a duet. Point to each part of your diagram as you describe it. Use consistent labels. Avoid giving pupils a fully labelled diagram while launching into a long explanation — it becomes overwhelming and the benefit is lost.

Try narrating the visual process slowly and clearly. If you’re describing how water moves through the water cycle, match your words to arrows or stages on the diagram. Pupils should be able to follow your voice and your visuals without having to work too hard to piece it together themselves.

Step 5: Let Pupils Try It Themselves

Here’s where dual coding becomes even more powerful. Once pupils have seen and heard an idea explained, get them to create their own visual version. This active engagement helps secure it in long-term memory.

You might ask them to:

• Redraw a diagram from memory
• Match captions to parts of an image
• Sketch a simple flow chart or process map
• Turn a paragraph into an infographic
• Use icons or drawings to represent key ideas in their notes

Just one or two of these activities per topic is enough to build good habits and make dual coding part of your classroom culture.

Step 6: Use Dual Coding in Revision and Retrieval

Don’t save dual coding for the first time you teach something — it’s also brilliant for review. Instead of relying solely on written retrieval tasks, incorporate visual ones too. Ask pupils to fill in a blank diagram, sketch a timeline from memory, or annotate an image with keywords.

These tasks force them to recall and reprocess information, strengthening both verbal and visual memory traces. That’s the sweet spot.

Step 7: Reflect and Refine

Like all teaching strategies, dual coding improves with practice. After each lesson, ask yourself: did that diagram really help? Did pupils grasp the concept better? Did they remember it later?

You might find that some visuals need simplifying, or that your explanation needs better alignment. That’s completely normal — the goal is to keep improving and to make dual coding a natural part of your teaching toolkit.

A Final Word of Caution

Dual coding works best when it’s deliberate. Avoid visual clutter. Don’t over-label. And resist the urge to turn everything into a poster. The visuals should clarify the message, not compete with it.

When used well, dual coding makes learning stickier, clearer, and more memorable — and it doesn’t take huge amounts of time to plan.

Want to Explore More?

There are plenty of Free Visual Design Tools, here are just a few:
https://www.canva.com
https://www.mindmup.com
https://jamboard.google.com