A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: Using Photo Narration in SOTL
In this exciting instance of the TeLEd Monthly Event Series, we will have Laura Cruz, Research Professor at the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State University. She is one of the leading figures in the SoTL movement in the US. Her recent publications have examined issues around Universal Design for Learning, Integrated Thinking, Faculty Expectations, Medical Education, and SoTL. This session will look at the use of student photos, both in yo ur teaching and your research about your teaching.
Main content
In this interactive session, participants will explore the use of photo narration as a teaching tool and research method in SoTL. Photo narration (and closely related practices such as photo story, photo voice, and photo elicitation) is a practice in which you have a student (or group of students) take photos of a given subject and provide narrated commentary on the images they select, typically in dialogue with others. Instructors have used photo narration as a tool for fostering numerous learning outcomes such as intercultural communication, inclusion and belonging, conceptual understanding, and more. Qualitative researchers have used the same artifacts to gain insights into visual communication about learning. This lively workshop will model how photo narration can be used in both teaching and research—please have your cameras ready (smart phones work great).
*Note that this approach works across all disciplines---you do not need to have a background in the arts or visual analysis to integrate photo narration into your teaching and research practice