Background and Motivation for the Research
Whether it is texting someone using emojis, posting memes, videos, or pictures of a recent trip on social media, people use images on a regular basis as a means of communication. Technology, the Internet, and social media have facilitated people’s ability to create, discover, use, and share images. Yet, I would say that most people’s interaction with images can be characterized as superficial. With the exclusion of those who study or work in the visual arts, most people probably do not possess the ability to analyze an image’s artistic qualities and make inferences about its meaning. And what about copyright? The Internet has copious amounts of images, but do people use them in a sensible manner? Having a well-rounded understanding of images and necessary skills to effectively interact with images is a complex process that does not come instinctively, even for people who are in regular contact with images.
As such, it is important to promote teaching on the subject so that people can become responsible users.
Although I have a bachelor’s degree in Classics and Art History, in which I have encountered all kinds of visual material, I do not think I possess an in-depth knowledge of how to effectively use images. For example, citing a painting, whether an image in a textbook or an actual painting, has always been rather ambiguous and frustrating to me.
In conducting research for another class, I encountered the term "visual literacy", which is defined as "a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media" (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2011, para 2).
More specifically, a visually literate person is someone who "understand[s] and analyze[s] the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2011, para 2). After doing some research into the topic, I thought that it would be a great avenue to pursue for my Research & Evaluation in Information Studies class’ research proposal. Not only does it amalgamate my art background with my current degree in Information Studies, as a visual learner, I can acquire knowledge and develop my own skills. Furthermore, as someone who is interested in user-centered design, I could undercover new insight that would benefit not visual literacy instruction and instructors, but more importantly, students.
Research Questions and Objectives
A preliminary literature review revealed that a multitude of teaching methods are used to deliver visual literacy instruction in higher education, including embedding it into similar subject matter such as information literacy, and that instructors are not exclusively visual arts librarians. The most important finding from scanning the literature is that there is a lack of broad-scope empirical research on visual literacy instruction. More specifically, the research does not explore students’ visual literacy skills in combination with instructional methods. Although some authors have assessed students immediately after the training session, there is an unexplored avenue in the impact on students of visual literacy instruction over a prolonged period of time.
I am interested in assessing students’ knowledge retention and skills development a few months after attending an instruction. Since my initial research questions were broad enough to be answered from the literature review, I have narrowed down my scope and formulated the following questions:
Is there a relationship between the teaching method used to deliver one-shot visual literacy instruction and visual art students’ knowledge retention and skills development?
Is there a teaching method that is more effective a delivering visual literacy instruction?
From a participant’s perspective, what are the components of a one-shot instruction deemed to be the most valuable?
The purposes of this research are to address the gap in the literature and encourage more empirical research on this topic. In addition, I hope to contribute quantitative results that will inform visual literacy instructional design. In so doing, I aim to advocate for the delivery effective instruction to visual arts students, those who would benefit the most from being visually literate, and to the general population as well.
Literature Review - Needs to be re-worked for the proposal
Visual Literacy Instructional Design
Although an image is primarily a visual manifestation and usually does not contain text, it is a form of information and often articulates a message, one that can be interpreted and described when bringing textual sources to the analysis. Since the use of images involves discovering and evaluating them and their sources, as seen with the second and fourth visual literacy standards (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2011), there is an inherent need for a multidisciplinary approach to visual literacy. In the literature, visual literacy is often taught in combination with information literacy (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2011), as seen with Benjamin Harris’ in-class one-shot sessions model (Milbourn, 2013; Meeks, 2017). In some cases, visual literacy instruction is a multi-step process, involving visits to the library or other related establishment, such as the museum (Beatty, 2013). Furthermore, due to the universal nature of visual material, visual literacy can be taught within a larger topic beyond the fine arts discipline, such as sociology (Williams & Barnum, 2019). Designing a curriculum that will actively engage students and foster knowledge retention can entail going beyond pedagogical methods. Beatty (2013) introduces a physiological and psychological understanding to how the human body and mind interact with visual information by introducing three theories: Dual Coding Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and Multimedia Learning Theory (Beatty, 2013). Another consideration for designing and implementing visual literacy session is the distinct information needs and behaviors of the targeted audience (Beene & Robinson, 2017). The Association for College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (2011) outlines the seven standards and includes both performance indicators and learning outcomes, elements that facilitate the curriculum design for this type of instruction.
Instructors
The librarian’s role within the context of teaching visual literacy is often taken out of the library environment and brought into the classroom (Beene & Robinson, 2017). The embedded librarian works closely in partnership with faculty to develop a syllabus that incorporates the visual literacy material and choose an assignment that will complement and reinforce students’ acquired knowledge on the topic. Meeks (2017) stresses that student success is best accomplished when visual literacy instruction is meshed into a "course[’s] objectives and outcomes" (p. 93). While the majority of the literature emphasizes that teaching visual literacy is done by art librarians, probably due to their expertise within the field of fine arts (Gendron & Sclippa, 2014; Meek, 2017; Williams & Barnum, 2019), in some instances the task was the responsibility of other library staff members, including information professionals (Milbourn, 2013).In their article, Williams and Barnum (2019) introduce five techniques for integrating visual literacy into the curriculum, including "incorporating activities and assignments aimed at highlighting students’ familiarity with visual communication tools" (p. 326). This is exemplified by Gendron and Sclippa (2014) where they shifted from the traditional lecture-style session to a brief, hands-on exercise performed in groups, inspired by the Visual Thinking Strategies model. The visual analysis, coupled with a survey of literature pertinent to the visual object, was part of the research plan assignment in which students put in practice and solidified their visual literacy skills and knowledge (Gendron & Sclippa, 2014).
Methodology
Study Design and Methods
In order to answer the aforementioned questions, I will conduct a quantitative research using a pre-experimental design. More specifically, I will use the alternative treatment post-test only with non-equivalent group approach in which two groups are given two treatments and observations occur afterwards (see Figure 1). The reason for selecting an approach that has two distinct treatments is so that I can compare and contrast teaching methods and establish which method is most successful at fostering students’ ability to retain knowledge and develop skills on the topic. I opted for post-test only as opposed to a combination of pre-test and post-test since I am testing for knowledge retention and skills development after attending a visual literacy session, and not the growth of knowledge and skills before and after the instruction.
Since I plan on collecting data at a specific and single point in time, this is a cross-sectional study. I have chosen a survey as my means of gathering the data and will use Survey Monkey to develop it. So as to make sure the survey meets accessibility requirements, I will reach out to uOttawa’s Accessibility Hub for assistance. The survey will be tested in two ways prior to being sent to the participants. I will reach out to the University of Ottawa’s library staff that work closely with literacy-type instruction and to the visual arts librarian for feedback on the content. The survey will also be tested by two graduate students in Information Studies program at the University of Ottawa. The survey will be sent to students via their school email address approximately four months after the session. Students will have three weeks to complete the survey and a reminder email will be sent one week before the due date. The survey will include approximately twenty questions, so as to not discourage students from participating, and be divided into three main sections (Figure 2). The first section will include background questions, such as their estimated knowledge of visual literacy prior to attending the session and there use of images in assignments. The second section will assess students’ knowledge and skills based on the seven standards of the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (Figure 3). The third section will look at the instruction’s components, such as the location, the curriculum, the length, and so on. The entire survey will include a mix of likert scale, sematic differential scale, multiple-choice, and rank order questions. Finally, there will be two open-ended questions at the end for students to expand on particular questions and provide feedback. To encourage students to participate, there will be a draw of a hundred-dollar Amazon gift card for each group.
Sampling
I will begin my research by reaching out to universities across Canada’s faculty of visual arts, introducing myself and my research, and inquiring whether or not they or the school’s library provide one-shot visual literacy instruction to visual arts students. From that, I will choose two universities that deliver instruction using distinct teaching methods. For example, one can offer a library workshop and the other an in-class presentation. I have opted for a one-shot delivery method for a couple of reasons. First, assessing an entire course would be more complex, and second, one-shot sessions, due to their short timeframe, can be attended by students in other faculties who do not necessarily need an entire course.
The participants of this research will be students enrolled in a visual arts program at the undergraduate level. Students can be enrolled part-time or full-time, be of any age, have Canadian citizenship or not, and have previous academic and/or professional experience related to visual arts. The only exclusion criterium is if students had already attended a visual literacy session prior to the one targeted by this research, which will be assessed as the first question in the survey.