teaching tips Photo Elicitation : Enhancing Learning in the Affective Domain

A photography, and narratives enhance learning in the affective domain. According to Hodges, Keeley, and Grier (2001), throughout history, visual images have described what is most important to humans. Visual images evoke emotions, abstract ideas, and the shared human experience. Regarding the use of photo elicitation, Harper (2002) states, “Images evoke deeper elements of human consciousness than do words; exchanges based on words alone utilize less of the brain’s capacity than do exchanges in which the brain is processing images as well as words” (p. 13). Images can be used as a pedagogic tool in several ways (e.g., intensive looking and photo elicitation). Visual images can also be used to tell stories and in narrative pedagogy as a way to illustrate themes. An exercise in intensive looking at a work of art was shown to enhance observation among second-degree nursing students in an accelerated master’s program. Half of the students in a medical-surgical course received traditional classroom and clinical strategies. The rest were taken to an art museum, shown a selection of paintings, and asked to intensively look at a painting for 10 minutes, reflect on it, and describe what they had seen. The exercise lasted approximately 90 minutes. The latter students were significantly better able to offer more objective clinical findings and more differential alternative diagnoses when viewing patient photographs. Thus, their skills in the clinical setting had been enhanced (Pellico, Friedlaender, & Fennie, 2009). Brand and McMurray (2009) used photo elicitation in an exploratory pilot study with nursing students about to embark on a geriatric clinical rotation. The students were asked to view five photographs of patients older than 65 years receiving nursing care (i.e., being shaved, showered, and dressed). Feelings and thoughts elicited from the students included anxiety and self-doubt about caring for this population, as well as fear of aging. Through reflection, questioning, and dialogue about these feelings, the students developed a better sense of core nursing values (e.g., compassion, treating patients with respect, and kindness). They were also able to challenge their stereotypes about older people. Thus, photo elicitation facilitated sensitivity, perception, empathy, and insight. In addition to the use of visual images, the use of narrative pedagogy through vivid storytelling captures students’ attention and offers them an avenue for active participation and discourse, enhancing their learning (Ewing & Hayden-Miles, 2011). Art forms, including photography, can be considered visual narratives. The artist shares an image, which is a form of story, and provides material for critical thought on values, belief systems, and conflicts (Ewing & HaydenMiles, 2011). Given the different learning styles of students, it is best to use a variety of educational strategies. In a study investigating the preferred learning style among 200 nursing staff members, Frankel (2009) found that the majority preferred visual learning over kinesthetic learning, with auditory learning least favored. Photographs are particularly well suited to engaging visual learners.