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LAMS for Inquiry-based Learning Case Study

Visual Methods in Research

1. The students and the curriculum

These activities were planned for use with a very small group of for part-time and distance learning post-graduate doctoral students in Geography.

2. The teaching and learning aims

The overall aim was to help the students to explore the use of visual methods in research. The two intended learning outcomes were:

to encourage students to learn in groups, to enable students to learn from each other.

3. The inquiry/ inquiries

Unfortunately, this sequence was never used with the students. The tutor had been asked, by her department, to find ways in which the three areas of thesis writing skills, qualitative computing software and qualitative methods could be translated into online learning scenarios. These sessions are online, but are based on existing qualitative research method workshops run face-to-face during the semester, and heavily geared towards collaborative tasks.

4. What happened (the process)

The tools that were planned for use in this sequence were:

(1) Notice board: The tutor outlined the aims and objectives of the session in this notice board.

(2) Forum: Students were asked to post their initial brainstorming thoughts on the idea of an ‘image’ in the forum.

(3) Notebook: Students were asked to record their thoughts about what their peers had said in their notebooks.

(4) Chat & Scribe: Students were asked to chat about how to research the role of friendships in children’s lives. These students were allocated into groups and had to appoint a scribe who made notes of group members’ input for submission. They had to discuss the methods, advantages and challenges of such a research.

(5) Resources & Forum: Students were asked to view a photo by French photographer Robert Doisneau and comment on it in the forum.

(6) Notebook: Students were asked jot down the characteristics of visual interpretation in their notebooks.

(7) Chat & Scribe + Notebook: Students were asked to read a brief outline of a specific research question and then determine how they would approach the research using content analysis and discourse analysis.

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5. Reflections

6. Any other comments

Produced by CILASS (the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences), University of Sheffield, 2005-2010.