Photovoice as Pedagogy for Authentic Learning

Abstract

Students preparing for helping professions who understand the influences of income on health are better equipped to address health challenges in communities and in their future careers. Universities have a responsibility to bolster and provide a safe environment for students to build and practice their 21 st -century skills. When implemented as a pedagogical tool, photovoice projects have the potential to provide authentic learning experiences for students to engage in advocacy and civil discourse. Undergraduate students (n = 37) learning about the influence of low income on health engaged in a photovoice assignment, demonstrating their own understanding of the course content while effectively advocating for issues related to the health of low-income community members. Community members attending the exhibit (n = 32) completed surveys designed to capture their reactions to the students' work. As a result of attending the students' photovoice exhibit, community members reported increased awareness about issues of concern in the community as well as an affective response to the community concerns documented.

Photovoice as a Pedagogical Tool to Increase Research Literacy Among Community Members

“…It provided a meaningful way to conclude the program by displaying photovoice projects at the CRFT graduation for fellows’ friends and families to see their work. We recommend also displaying the photovoice projects at community events to encourage further interaction with other community members around relevant topics (Massengale et al, 2016). Displaying the photovoice projects was also great marketing for the program as it expressed fellows’ enthusiasm and demonstrated their increased knowledge in public health methods.…”

“…Gutierrez and Wolff (2017) found that using photovoice in an undergraduate health science course improved students' understanding of health disparities and even led some students to take action within their communities. Similarly, Massengale et al (2016) showed that integrating photovoice into an undergraduate course not only improved understanding of health outcomes among disadvantaged groups but also promoted advocacy and engagement in civil discourse. Furthermore, they show how organizing a community exhibit and displaying student photovoice projects increased awareness among community members in attendance around community health concerns.…”

“…Though photovoice has mostly been used to answer descriptive research questions (Catalani & Minkler, 2010), more recently several studies have examined how photovoice can be used to enhance undergraduate student learning beyond the classroom (Goodhart et al, 2006; Gutierrez & Wolff, 2017; Massengale, Strack, Orsini, & Herget, 2016; Schell, Ferguson, Hamoline, Shea, & Thomas-Maclean, 2009). Gutierrez and Wolff (2017) found that using photovoice in an undergraduate health science course improved students’ understanding of health disparities and even led some students to take action within their communities.…”

A educação médica nos cenários de práticas em anos iniciais da formação: sentidos tecidos pelo photovoice

“…A 2016 European essay focused on investigating the contributions of Photovoice to education; based on its conclusion, this method has benefits such as access to settings and subjective experiences that are harder to be understood through retrospective or observational research; student engagement to research process; real academic experiences; and reflection on teaching and learning processes 22 .…”

Message From the Editor in Chief

“…In this issue of Pedagogy in Health Promotion is a set of experiential learning ideas for a range of formal learners from undergraduates, to MPH, to doctoral students. Massengale, Strack, Orsini, and Herget (2016) implemented a photovoice project for undergraduates to give them an authentic learning experience to help them engage in advocacy and civil discourse related to the health of low-income residents in a community. An added step in their work was to have residents of the community under observation review the students’ work and give feedback to the students.…”