Excerpt:

Since visualization is one of the most effective ways of learning, this method should be used whenever possible.

Use of Maps, Charts, Diagrams, and Illustrations
This is another method of making teaching more effective by means of visualization.  Someone has said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Maps, charts, diagrams, and pictures can impress facts on the mind far more vividly than pages of text.  Whenever it is possible to illustrate a point by a drawing, it should be done.

There are many opportunities in The Urantia Book to use this graphic method of teaching.  The drawing, which we now have showing pervaded and unpervaded space is of utmost value.  From the comments, which have been made about it, it is evident that it has greatly clarified the concept of the relationship of pervaded and unpervaded space.  Maps can be made of the Master Universe, the Grand Universe, Havona, Paradise, the architectural spheres and their satellites and sub satellites.  Some of these have already been used, and others will be available in the future.  In Part III maps can be made of the different stages of the physical evolution of Urantia and of the spread of the colored races and the Andite peoples over the earth’s surface.  In Part IV we will use maps of Palestine and the Roman Empire to trace Jesus’ travels and the beginnings of the Christian religion.

Charts and diagrams are helpful in showing relationships between parts.  They can indicate lines of origin, lines of sovereignty, and lines of administration better than any other means.  We are already using such charts in our classes – the administration charts of the superuniverse and the genealogy charts, the family trees, showing origin of the personalities listed in the Uversa Personality Register.  We also have a chart of the space levels of the Grand Universe and the Master Universe.

Charts and diagrams will also be useful in studying the evolution of man on Urantia.  One, for example, could start with the appearance of animal life and trace the changes down to Andon and Fonta, the first true humans.  Another could begin with Andon and Fonta and carry through the Andonites, the development of the six colored races, the Nodites, the injection of Adamic blood, the Andites, and the present human races.  Still another chart could show the evolution of the religions of the world.

Sometimes a picture will dramatize a point when other methods will not fill the need for graphic presentation.  And such pictures should by no means always be serious ones.  Often, a humorous picture will do a better job than a literal, factual representation.  It has been said, “When laughter is involved in the learning process, students will retain the same material about 50% better." Anyone who saw it will never forget Bill’s drawing of the baby wit the clothesline looped above his head to illustrate the mind circuit and what happens to it when the human passes out of physical existence.  Another graphic illustration was of the firehouse with three stories and a fire-pole running from top to bottom to indicate that God was on all three levels, Supreme, Ultimate, and Absolute.  On the outside, a man on a ladder was laboriously climbing to attain the first and second levels, the Supreme and Ultimate, and hanging by his toes from the roof trying to peer into the third level, the Absolute.  Another good illustration, though not in the humorous vein, is the picture of a tree with a solid trunk, indicating one-fold deity, then three branches, indicating three-fold deity, and higher up, seven branches, indicating seven-fold deity, yet emphasizing that it is al one tree and all one deity.

The use of this method requires paper and pencil for individual teaching, but in classroom work a blackboard is essential.  A teacher who has a little training in drawing or cartooning has a great advantage in blackboard teaching.  And the teacher who can make the drawing and explain the points while doing it, has an advantage, for there is activity involved which will hold the attention of the class.  Drawing is much more interesting than a drawing already on the board.

The blackboard is also useful for maps, charts diagrams, lists, and so on, and is an almost indispensable part of a classroom.

Lists and Tables
Another tool to be used in teaching The Urantia Book consists of lists and tables.  These are the parts, which are uninteresting to most people, the dry-as-dust, cold, hard statistics, which are dull but necessary as a foundation.  The Uversa Personality Register is a good example of this device.  It is simply a list showing personalities and their classification.  Another table we are using is one, which I call the basic table.  It is similar to the tables of measurement, which we all learned in school, and just as basic.  It starts out:  1,000 planets equal 1 system, 100 systems equal 1 constellation, etc.  And there are other tables showing how many planets in the Grand Universe, how many minor sectors, and so on.

Later on, there will be still other tables to help in the study of this book.  The history of our mother nebula, Andronover, of our solar system, and our planet will be put into tables.  Dates and events are easier to fix in the mind in tabular form than buried in a mass of words.  Some of these tables and lists will be necessary only for quick reference purposes, but others are truly basic and must be firmly fixed in the mind in order to grasp completely the other concepts in the book.  And this brings us directly to the next tool to be discussed – memory.

(The full article can be found here.)