Traditionally, informative speeches are relegated to be passive. The classic scope of informative speeches does not consider "live" or "lived" rhetoric. After teaching public speaking for most of my career, there are times when one needs to reinvigorate assignments. This assignment challenges how we utilize memory and place to…

Students are often unmotivated to engage with their online coursework. Research has shown that concretely visualizing one's goals (e.g., photo-taking) can improve motivation to learn. This study explored the effect of taking a photo of one's study space (i.e., a "studygram" photo similar to a post on Instagram) on students' motivation to…

The Instagram Activism Slideshow helps undergraduate students bridge theory and practice by connecting the media arguments they see in their daily lives to the principles of policy argument they learn in argumentation courses. Students use a relevant argumentation theory or concept to argue for a public policy in a concise and palatable Instagram…

This case study uses a diversity and critical thinking exercise in a photojournalism class to show how journalism educators can incorporate race and gender conversations about ethics and judgment into traditionally skills-oriented courses. It is crucial that journalism students learn how to apply their skills properly in an era of social unrest,…

We present a two-assignment series that developed students' sociological imaginations and that could be done in a face-to-face or online course. The series used the Sociological Images blog and students' own visual images (e.g., photographs) to meet course learning goals: (1) link sociological theories and concepts to social events/trends, (2)…

The implementation of the learning management system (LMS) in the New Normal period was investigated in this study. A qualitative research design with a descriptive approach was used to explore two main themes: the advantages of using LMS applications and the disadvantages of using LMS applications. The data collection technique used was a written…

Courses: Visual Rhetoric, Visual Communication, Multiplatform Journalism, Advertising, Journalism, Public Relations. Objective: This unit activity requires that students analyze and produce imagery with the help of semiotic theory. Students will: (1) learn to connect theory with practice holistically by simultaneously practicing visual analysis…

In a qualitative study, photo narratives from eight students covering eighty total photos were collected and analyzed to understand the existing student experience across eight short-term study abroad programs from three different institutions in Texas. Photos and their connected narrative interviews were examined for compositional focus,…

Young people's engagement with urban public space has been facing a number of obstacles that reflect a lack of understanding of their needs, values and priorities. The emergence of digital devices and social media as integral elements of youth culture adds further urgency to the need to understand how young people themselves visually articulate…

This article explores the use of an interview assignment using photovoice to help students gain a deeper understanding about their reactions to others' grief and loss processes with the goal of facilitating their effective work with those who are grieving. Photovoice is a participatory research method and tool using images to explore narratives.…

In this semester-long activity, I describe how to create a collaborative cabinet of curiosities that engages critical methods of inquiry as an alternative summative assignment. Courses: Communication Pedagogy, Gender and Communication, Performance Studies. Objective: The objective of this assignment is for students to identify and analyze how…

This design case chronicles a photography assignment starting with its origins in the master's level lab of a communications design program in Taiwan's National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, directed by Jalin Huang. We follow this assignment through its adaptation for a basic media development course taught by Professor Elizabeth…

The main focus of the study was active learning in courses in which field trips traditionally has been important, by the use of 360° photos and videos -- known as either 360° or spherical media. The aim of the project was to generate knowledge about how rich media content can enable students to actively explore situations or localities and to…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of educational leadership graduate students who participated in a short-term study abroad program in Peru. We analyzed assignments submitted for course credit, including a total of 144 photos and 107 corresponding reflections submitted as part of the photovoice…

Much has been written about the benefits of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity for addressing environmental issues, but how do we teach such collaboration? Here, we describe our experiences attempting to foster collaboration between undergraduate students from sociology, environmental studies, and photography. We describe and reflect on a…