A Double Take: The practical and ethical dilemmas of teaching the visual method of photo elicitation

Wakefield, Caroline and Watt, Sal (2014) A Double Take: The practical and ethical dilemmas of teaching the visual method of photo elicitation. Psychology Teaching Review, 20 (2). pp. 145-157. ISSN 0965-948X

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Abstract

This paper advocates the teaching of photo elicitation in higher education as a valuable data collection technique and draws on our experience of teaching this visual method across two consecutive postgraduate cohorts. Building on previous work (Watt & Wakefield, 2014) and based on a former concern regarding student duty of care, a modification was made that constrained or made less ‘risky’ the topic area of a photo elicitation project for the second year group. The paper compares and contrasts the effects of this change through student and tutor reflections. In Cohort 1, (year one) although the reflections of some of the students gave us cause for concern, the work produced was exceptionally creative and of an excellent standard. The work produced by the following year, Cohort 2, was of much lower quality, in the main lacked creativity which was supported by student reflection that similarly depth or insight. In comparing and contrasting the two cohorts we discuss the effect of the topic change in potentially affecting student engagement, creativity and quality of work. In taking what pedagogically, we perceived as a less risky topic area, we discuss the potential this had on stifling creativity and student engagement concluding that ours should serve as a cautionary tale that there is a need to be careful in what we wish for; a less risky topic equated to less risky work and affected student engagement.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information and Comments: This is the author's manuscript of an article that was subsequently published in Psychology Teaching Review, Vol 20 (2), Winter 2014. Available at https://shop.bps.org.uk/publications/publication-by-series/psychology-teaching-review-vol-20-no-2-winter-2014.html
Faculty / Department: Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Health and Sport Sciences
Depositing User: Caroline Wakefield
Date Deposited: 30 Aug 2017 08:17
Last Modified: 02 Mar 2021 11:54
URI: https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/1223

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