I See the Ideas: Visual Strategies for Teaching Research Concepts

1. I See the Ideas: Visual Strategies for Teaching Research Concepts Heidi Senior, University of Portland Background Transforming teaching: The case of THE 205, Biblical Traditions Modeling the research process in other disciplines Biblical Traditions is a required class at the University of Portland. Students write papers citing a variety of reference books and biblical commentaries . All “Bib Trad” students visit the library and receive similar research instruction. In Fall 2007 the librarians began incorporating visual techniques into instruction sessions. Transformation: organization of information on handout Transformation: Discussing strengths / types of resources Brain-based research shows that some people – possibly the majority of people -- process new information in a visual way. They have difficulty accessing auditory information. Before: Text-heavy Before: Discussion of reference books and commentaries was text-heavy, and mostly auditory Put the patron / librarian in the picture to demonstrate Identifying subject databases Using the database for help with search terms (Communication Studies, Nursing, Education) After: Discussion has auditory and visual components After: visual Kinesthetic? Auditory? Visual? These are learning styles or modalities. A person who processes information visually can take in auditory information if it creates a picture. Explaining primary, secondary, and tertiary information (Nursing, Biology) Photo courtesy of Keystone/Getty Images. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from Masterfile Premier database. Piagetian Development Theory Via visual communication, the learner moves from the pre-operational stage (focused on I/me) to concrete operational (reasoning logically) to formal operational (conceptualizing, or thinking symbolically). Guiding students through locating books and other research materials (History) References: Arwood, E. L. (1991). Semantic and pragmatic language disorders. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers. Arwood, E. L., Kaakinen, J, & Wynne, A. L. (2002). Nurse educators: Using visual language. Tigard, OR: APRICOT, Inc. Molnar, Andrew E., and Matthew J. Hertenstein. (2007). Piaget, Jean (1896–1980). Encyclopedia of Human Development. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://0-sage-ereference.com.clark.up.edu:80/humandevelopment/Article_n486.html Result: 40% drop in theology questions (vs. 10.4% drop in all reference questions)