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Graduate Course Proposal Form Submission Detail - EDG7368
Tracking Number - 2943

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Current Status: Approved by SCNS - 2013-02-05
Campus: Tampa
Submission Type: New
Course Change Information (for course changes only):
Comments: to GC 12/3 - for C&I PhD Adult Ed Conc. Elective. GC approved 12/4/12. to SYS 12/4/12. to SCNS 12/12/12. Apprd eff 2/1/13. Nmbr 7367 apprd as 7368

Detail Information

  1. Date & Time Submitted: 2012-09-24
  2. Department: Childhood Education & Literacy Studies
  3. College: ED
  4. Budget Account Number: 172100
  5. Contact Person: Ilene Berson
  6. Phone: 8139747698
  7. Email: iberson@usf.edu
  8. Prefix: EDG
  9. Number: 7368
  10. Full Title: Visual Research Methods in Education
  11. Credit Hours: 3
  12. Section Type: D - Discussion (Primarily)
  13. Is the course title variable?: N
  14. Is a permit required for registration?: N
  15. Are the credit hours variable?: N
  16. Is this course repeatable?:
  17. If repeatable, how many times?: 0
  18. Abbreviated Title (30 characters maximum): Visual Research Methods
  19. Course Online?: C - Face-to-face (0% online)
  20. Percentage Online: 0
  21. Grading Option: -
  22. Prerequisites:
  23. Corequisites:
  24. Course Description: Introduces students to analytical and interpretative methods for understanding visual and

    media culture within an education context.

  25. Please briefly explain why it is necessary and/or desirable to add this course: Needed to compete with national trends
  26. What is the need or demand for this course? (Indicate if this course is part of a required sequence in the major.) What other programs would this course service? Many doctoral students in the College of Education require advanced coursework in qualitative research methodologies as part of their programs of study and in preparation for their dissertation. The College needs to expand its current offerings to meet student demand.
  27. Has this course been offered as Selected Topics/Experimental Topics course? If yes, how many times? No
  28. What qualifications for training and/or experience are necessary to teach this course? (List minimum qualifications for the instructor.) Publication & research record in the area of visual research in education
  29. Objectives: Students will:

    • Explore the ways in which a variety of media – photography, web-based media, video and film, artwork and artifacts – can serve as the basis for qualitative forms of research practice in education.

    • Apply ethical principles and standards to dilemmas and issues that arise in visual research studies.

    • Assess the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of visual data for use in education research.

    • Analyze and interpret a range of visual data, using post-positivist and hermeneutic approaches to understand information embedded within the visual.

    • Examine visual data through a socio-cultural lens, using socially established symbolic codes.

    • Use visual material to record and communicate research findings.

    • Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the use of visual research methods for social change and policy-making.

  30. Learning Outcomes: A wide variety of visual data will be considered as the basis

    for qualitative forms of research practice in education, including photography, architecture/landscape, web-based materials, video/film, and artwork/artifacts. The course will focus on the re-conceptualization of “data” to include visual materials, articulating social theory with visual representations of education and schooling, the process of collecting and constructing visual documents of education and schooling, methods for using visual documents in interviews and focus groups, coding and analyzing visual data, and techniques for reporting findings that concern visual materials in research. Theoretical explorations of the nature of imagery from cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, the visual arts and art history will be addressed as foundations for research questions that concern visual subject matter and the use of visual research methods. The course will explore specific methods with opportunities for hands-on exploration.

  31. Major Topics: I. Part One: Theorizing the Visual

    a. Introduction to the course, including discussion of the ethical uses of visual images

    b. Researching with visual images—review of the literature

    c. Theoretical and conceptual foundations for visual research

    d. Studying education through a cultural lens

    II. Part Two: The Power of Images and Seeing Data—Identifying, Collecting, and Creating Visual Data

    a. Media: Photography, architecture and landscapes, web-based media, video and film, artwork and artifacts

    III. Part Three: A Sampling of Methods

    a. Categorizing the scope: analyzing the work of others, co-creating with participants, auto-ethnographic or creative work

    b. Historical/archival approaches

    c. Content analysis

    d. Photo-elicitation and other participatory methods

    e. Visual ethnography

    IV. Part Four: Insights from Data—Coding and Analyzing Visual Data

    a. Coding/analyzing visual materials: Approaches from the social sciences and visual arts

    b. Using qualitative software to code images (e.g., Transana, StudioCode)

    V. Part Five: (Re)presenting Data—Techniques for Dissemination

    a. Copyright permissions

    b. Print publication

    c. Exhibitions and presentations

    VI. Part Six: Student Presentations

  32. Textbooks:
  33. Course Readings, Online Resources, and Other Purchases: Recommended Resources and Supplemental Classic Texts:

    Bagley, A. (1984). Bruegel's "The Ass at School" A Study in the Iconics of Education. Paedagogica Historica, XXIV(2), 357-378.

    Ballerini, J. (1995). Flip: The homeless child as auteur. The Yale Journal of Criticism, 8(3), 87-101.

    Berson, I. R. (2008). Using digital resources to explore the role of children in the framing of social issues. Social Education, 72(3), 136-139.

    Berson, I. R. (2010). Framing children as citizens: A journey from the real world to digital spaces. In R. Diem & M. J. Berson (Eds.), Technology in Retrospect: Social Studies Place in the Information Age 1984-2009. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing

    Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2007). Digital literacy. In K. M. Borman, S. E. Cahill, & B. A. Cotner (Eds.), The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools. Westport, CT: Praeger.

    Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2007). Exploring complex social phenomena with computer simulations. Social Education, 71(3), 136-139.

    Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2009). Making sense of the social studies with visualization tools. Social Education, 73(3), 124-126.

    Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., Desai, S., Falls, D., & Fenaughty, J. (2008). An analysis of electronic media to prepare children for safe and ethical practices in digital environments. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(3), 222-243.

    Berson, M. J. (2004). Digital images: Capturing America’s past with the technology of today. Social Education, 68(3), 214-219.

    Berson, M. J., & Swan, K. O. (2005). Digital images in the social studies classroom. In G. L. Bull & L. Bell (Eds.), Teaching with Digital Images: Acquire, Analyze, Create, Communicate (pp.147-172). Eugene, OR: ISTE.

    Buckingham, D. (2009). `Creative’ visual methods in media research: possibilities, problems and proposals. Media, Culture and Society, 31(4), 633-652.

    Bloustien, G., & Baker, S. (2003). On not talking to strangers: Researching the micro worlds of girls through visual auto-ethnographic practices. Social Analysis, 47(3), 64-80.

    Collier, J., & Collier, M. (1986). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

    Eisner, E. (1997). The promise and perils of alternative forms of data representation. Educational Researcher, 26(6), 4-10

    Eisner, E. (1998). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Fischman, G. (2001). Reflections about images,visual culture, and educational research. Educational Researcher, 30(8), 28- 33.

    Galman, S. A. C. (2009). The truthful messenger: Visual methods and representation in qualitative research in education. Qualitative Research, 9(2), 197-217.

    Gotschi, E., Delve, R., & Freyer, B. (2009). Participatory photography as a qualitative approach to obtain insights into farmer groups. Field Methods, 21(3), 290-308.

    Guillemin, M., & Drew, S. (2010). Questions of process in participant-generated visual methodologies. Visual Studies, 25(2), 175 – 188.

    Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation. Visual Studies, 17, 13-26.

    Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in qualitative research: Analysing social interaction in everyday life. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

    Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of emergent methods. New York: Guilford.

    Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in qualitative research: Analysing social interaction in everyday life. Los Angeles: SAGE.

    Jacobs, J. K., Hollingsworth, H., & Givvin, K. B. (2007). Video-based research made easy: Methodological lessons learned from the TIMSS video studies. Field Methods, 19(3), 284-299.

    Jules-Rosette, B., McVey, C., & Arbitrario, M. (2002). Performance ethnography: The theory and method of dual tracking. Field Methods, 14(2), 123-147.

    Leavy, P. (2009). Method meets art: Arts-based research practice. New York: Guilford Press.

    Luttrell, W. (2010). “A camera is a big responsibility”: A lens for analysing children’s visual voices. Visual Studies, 25, 224 – 237.

    Meadows, D. (2003). Digital storytelling: Research-based practice in new media. Visual Communication, 2(2), 189-193.

    Margolis, E. (2004). Looking at discipline, looking at labor: Photographic representations of Indian boarding schools. Visual Studies, 19(1), 72-96.

    Mehan, H. (1993). Why I like to look: On the use of videotape as an instrument in educational research. In M. Schratz (Ed.), Qualitative Voices in Educational Research. London: The Falmer Press.

    Novoa, A. (2000). Ways of saying, ways of seeing: Public images of teachers (19th and 20th centuries). Paedagogica Historica, 36, 21-52.

    Packard, J. (2008). “I’m gonna show you what it’s really like out here”: The power and limitation of participatory visual methods. Visual Studies, 23(1), 63-77.

    Pauwels, L. (2010). Visual sociology reframed: An analytical synthesis and discussion of visual methods in social and cultural research. Sociological Methods and Research, 38(4), 545-581.

    Pink, S. (2004). In and out of the academy: Video ethnography of the home. Visual Anthropology Review, 20, 82-88.

    Pink, S. (2007). Walking with Video. Visual Studies, 22, 240 – 252.

    Pink, S. (2012). Advances in visual methodology. London: SAGE.

    Piper, H., & Frankham, J. (2007). Seeing voices and hearing pictures: Image as discourse and the framing of image-based research. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education, 28(3), 373-387.

    Prosser, J. (2007). Visual methods and the visual culture of schools. Visual Studies, 22(1), 13-30.

    Rieger, J. H. (1996). Photographing social change. Visual Sociology, 11(1), 5-49.

    Rose, G. (2012). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials (3rd ed.). London: SAGE.

    Ruby, J. (1973). Up the Zambezi with notebook and camera: Or, being an anthropologist without doing anthropology. . . with pictures. Program in Ethnographic Film Newsletter, 4(3), 12-14.

    Ruby, J. (1976). In a pic’s eye: Interpretive strategies for deriving significance and meaning from photographs. Afterimage.

    Schwartz, D. (1989). Visual ethnography: Using photography in qualitative research. Qualitative Sociology, 12(2), 119-154.

    Salmon, J. (2010). Online interviews in real time. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Sekula, A. (1980). School is a factory. Exposure, 18, 77-91.

    Shrum, W., Duque, R., & Brown, T. (2005). Digital video as research practice: Methodology for the millennium. Journal of Research Practice, 1(1). Retrieved from http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/6/12

    Sliwinski, S. (2004). A painful labour: Responsibility and photography. Visual Studies, 19, 150-162.

    Sontag, S. (2004). Regarding the torture of others. New York Times Magazine.

    Sorenson, E. R., & Jablonko, A. (1995). Research filming of naturally occurring phenomena: Basic strategies. In P. Hockings (Ed.), Principles of Visual Anthropology (pp. 147-157). New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Spencer, S. (2011). Visual research methods in the social sciences: Awakening visions. New York: Routledge.

    Sheffield, C. C., Carano, K. T., & Berson, M. J. (2008). Steam Man & Airships: Technology of the Future in the Past. Social Education, 72(3), 124-129.

    Simon, R. I. (1994). Pedagogy and the critical practice of photography. In H. Giroux (Ed.), Disturbing Pleasures (pp. 93-105). New York: Routledge.

    Steinberg, A., & Berson, M. J. (2011). The Lower East Side Tenement Museum: A Window on Immigrant Life. Middle Level Learning, 41, M2-M9.

    Stockall, N., & Davis, S. (2011). Uncovering pre-service teacher beliefs about young children: A photographic elicitation methodology. Issues in Educational Research, 21(2), 192-209.

    Symes, C., & Meadmore, D. (1996). Force of habit: The school uniform as a body of knowledge. In E. McWilliam & P. Taylor (Eds.), Pedagogy, Technology, and the Body (171-191). New York: Peter Lang.

    Tobin, J. J., Hseuh, Y., & Karasawa, M. (2009). Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited: China, Japan, and the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Tobin, J. J., Wu, D. Y. H., & Davidson, D. H. (1989). Preschool in three cultures: Japan, China, and the United States. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Tufte, E. (1990). Envisioning information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

    Tufte, E. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information (2nd ed.). Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

    van Hover, S., Swan, K. O., & Berson, M. J. (2004). Digital images in the history classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology, 31(8), 22-25.

    Vick, M. (2000). What does a teacher look like. Paedagogica Historica, 36(1), 247-263.

    Warburton, T. (1998). Cartoons and teachers: Mediated visual images as data. In J. Prosser (Ed.), Image-Based Research A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers (pp. 252-262). London: Falmer Press.

    Weinberg. D., Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in qualitative research: Analysing social interaction in everyday life. Los Angeles: SAGE.

  34. Student Expectations/Requirements and Grading Policy: Discussion Prompts 10%

    Field Assignments 60%

    Project & Report 30%

    Weighted Grade Grade

    94-100 A

    90-93 A-

    87-89 B+

    84-86 B

    80-83 B-

    77-79 C+

    74-76 C

    70-73 C-

    67-69 D+

    64-66 D

    60-63 D-

    Below 60 F

  35. Assignments, Exams and Tests: Discussion prompts: Students will prepare "discussion prompts" for one or two weeks of the course readings. Each discussion prompt should include three of the following: (1) a schema for comparing/contrasting the readings for that week in terms of one or more dimensions/perspectives, etc.; (2) a brief account of something from the reading that you don’t understand; (3) a brief statement about the implications of the reading for educational (or social science) research in general; and/or (4) a brief statement about the implications of the reading for your own development as a researcher. We will take 10-30 minutes each class session to review the reading in terms of prompts prepared by students.

    Field assignments: There are 4 short field assignments for this class; each concluding with an in-class presentation/exhibit/report. You must complete each assignment by the due date. These assignments present intriguing intellectual challenges. We will examine closely the intellectual challenges presented by these assignments by looking at the different approaches students take to them and the assumptions required to produce or view visual documents of this sort.

    1: Classroom comparison: Using video tape or still photographs, prepare a visual document that compares two or more classrooms.

    2: Still photo sequence/set: Collect, acquire, or make a set of still photographs to document/examine/represent some aspect of education and/or schooling.

    3: Video sequence: Collect, acquire or record 3 minutes of "continuous sequence" video tape to document/examine/represent some aspect of education and/or schooling.

    4: Image-interview: Use some still photographs or video tape as a stimulus to interview one or two people about something related -- directly or indirectly -- to education and schooling.

    During either the week before or the week each field assignment is due, you will need to write a 1-2 page account of your reflections about that field project and one or more of the course readings (i.e., 4 field projects = 4 accounts, 1-2 pages each).

    Project & report: You have three options for completing the project & report requirement: (1) You can present work for a project that is entirely of your own design -- but related to the focus of this course; (2) You can select one of the four field assignments listed above and carry it a step or two further; or (3) You can examine the implications of/for visual documentation for/of a concept, issue, or perspective (e.g., validity, rapport, coding, symbolic interactionism, critical theory, ethnography) that is contested/valued within social research. The last class of the quarter will be used for student presentations about term projects. In addition to the in-class presentation, you will need to prepare a written 5-10 page account/reflection of your work on the term project.

  36. Attendance Policy: Course Attendance at First Class Meeting – Policy for Graduate Students: For structured courses, 6000 and above, the College/Campus Dean will set the first-day class attendance requirement. Check with the College for specific information. This policy is not applicable to courses in the following categories: Educational Outreach, Open University (TV), FEEDS Program, Community Experiential Learning (CEL), Cooperative Education Training, and courses that do not have regularly scheduled meeting days/times (such as, directed reading/research or study, individual research, thesis, dissertation, internship, practica, etc.). Students are responsible for dropping undesired courses in these categories by the 5th day of classes to avoid fee liability and academic penalty. (See USF Regulation – Registration - 4.0101,

    http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/ogc%20web/currentreg.htm)

    Attendance Policy for the Observance of Religious Days by Students: In accordance with Sections 1006.53 and 1001.74(10)(g) Florida Statutes and Board of Governors Regulation 6C-6.0115, the University of South Florida (University/USF) has established the following policy regarding religious observances: (http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/gc_pp/acadaf/gc10-045.htm)

    In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It’s the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information.

  37. Policy on Make-up Work: Course Completion

    An “I” grade will only be considered by the instructor for students with otherwise excellent attendance and only for documented circumstances of the greatest magnitude that are unavoidable (usually hospitalization or immediate family tragedy). Students who find themselves in such a circumstance, should petition by e-mail – within 2 days of the precipitating event - explaining the circumstance. At that time a judgment will be made as to the merits of the petition, the kind of documentation to be submitted for verification will be explained, if necessary, and then the student will be informed of the required remedy. Judgments also take into account the overall quality of work and professional disposition.

    Academic Dishonesty:

    “Plagiarism is defined as "literary theft" and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published text or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text. On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, or oral sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally known to the public-at-large, must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Citations may be made in footnotes or within the body of the text. Plagiarism also consists of passing off as one's own, segments or the total of another person's work.”

    “Punishment for academic dishonesty will depend on the seriousness of the offense and may include receipt of an "F" with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the "F" shall be used to determine the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to assign the student a grade of "F" of "FF" (the latter indicating dishonesty) in the course.”

    Detection of Plagiarism:

    The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service which allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit to SafeAssignment.com, or 3) ask students to submit their assignments to SafeAssignment.com through myUSF. Assignments are compared automatically with a database of journal articles, web articles, and previously submitted papers. The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student's paper was plagiarized.

  38. Program This Course Supports: Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction
  39. Course Concurrence Information:


- if you have questions about any of these fields, please contact chinescobb@grad.usf.edu or joe@grad.usf.edu.