Using the Photovoice Method to Elicit Authentic Learning in Online Discussions

Aimee Denoyelles,Beatriz M Reyes-Foster

doi:10.14434//jotlt.v7n1.23596

Abstract

While online discussions remain popular in college classrooms, mixed results persist about their effectiveness in eliciting authentic learning. This case study explores how students perceive the influence of the Photovoice method on their authentic learning, critical thinking, engagement, and peer interaction in an asynchronous online discussion. Photovoice is a research method combining photography with social action, in which people express their points of view by photographing scenes that highlight certain themes. Students in an online undergraduate course engaged in an online discussion which asked them to connect personal images to the course content. Students reported that this strategy supported authentic learning, critical thinking, engagement, and interaction; in addition, a correlational analysis found that these factors are highly interrelated. This case study proposes recommendations for practitioners interested in using a similar approach.

Highlights

The growth of online learning in college courses over the last decades has provided students with new opportunities to complete a college degree with a plethora of flexible learning options, making a college education more accessible than ever before
All students were required to complete the following prompt: ‘Photovoice’ is a research method in which people express their points of view or communities by photographing scenes that highlight certain themes – the photographs are interpreted in the community
It was found that the relationship between critical thinking and authentic learning was most significant (r = .83, p < .01)

Summary

Introduction

The growth of online learning in college courses over the last decades has provided students with new opportunities to complete a college degree with a plethora of flexible learning options, making a college education more accessible than ever before. With the rise of online photo-sharing services like Instagram and the incorporation of photo-sharing into popular social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Millennials have come to earn the moniker of “The Self(ie) Generation” (Blow, 2014). Integrating this personal practice into existing classroom practices may set the stage for active learning to take place. Students actively learn when they are “doing things and thinking about what they are doing” The core goals of authentic learning are to enable students to “learn by doing”: thinking and solving problems like a

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Discussion

Conclusion