Author: Steve Spencer, s.spencer@shu.ac.uk

Author: Richard Pountney, r.p.pountney@shu.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Learning Resources and Activities

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: Sociology, Anthropology and Politics

This case study illustrates...use of video, an effect on learning, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, an influence on educational research, staff satisfaction with e-learning, staff personal development, a positive effect on recruitment, a positive effect on retention, an effect on social equality

Background & Context

Why did you use this e-learning approach?

The focus for this case study is the integration of video texts into content and delivery, providing examples which illuminate issues in Qualitative Research Methods at Masters level. The e-learning aspect follows from three routes for the access of visual material:

1. Through the accessibility of the video material via the Helix Server at SHU
2. The development of a dedicated website hosted by C-SAP
3. The gradual accumulation of relevant video and still material from my personal research or from a growing collection of online visual material (primarily on YouTube, Google Video and NewfilmOnline).
   The visual demonstration of research was hoped to have certain benefits:
   1. Emphasise the importance of striving to achieve validity in one's interpretation of the social world.
   2. Highlight the interpersonal aspect of eliciting information, the cultural and social barriers, the communication problems and issues which arise.
   3. Highlights the ethical dimensions of fieldwork and the consequences of choices and decisions made.

What was the context in which you used this e-learning approach?

This visual e-learning approach was employed within Qualitative Research Methods (level 1 and 2) Master's level modules within the MA in Social Science Research Methods (Social Policy/ Sociology). This programme consists of 60 credits of generic skills training in qualitative and quantitative research, 60 credits of subject specific material in research design and social theory, and a 60-credit dissertation within the student's area of specialisation. The use of visual teaching materials was employed in the Qualitative research module components

The students pursuing this masters programme typically include a few internal applicants (several from research centres and administrative areas in the University), a small number of overseas students (in the last 2 years there have been students from Cuba, Libya, Greece, China, Korea, Pakistan), students from Sports and Tourism courses at Sheffield Hallam University, and a number of others from Applied Social Studies (a typical cohort is around 20-25 students with some students taking part in the module at both level 1 and 2).

Teaching in this area I had previously given examples from the literature making less use of my own research material. The lack of convincing field work examples (or perhaps my lack of ability to bring examples from literature to life) may have given the students less confidence in the relevance of the approach to research being conveyed.

Being able to draw on visual evidence of my research gave me greater confidence in addressing first-hand the issues students faced as they embarked on research - not in the sense of being an 'expert' researcher but one who had encountered some of the attendant issues, problems and decisions. Further it allowed an obvious inclusion of a critical appraisal of visual research methods.

How did you implement and embed this e-learning approach?

An action-based approach to research (see model below) was used to align relevant research with needs for teaching and personal development as well as more general trends in social research and initiatives within the Faculty of Development and Society at Sheffield Hallam University.

The results of these small integrated pieces of research were disseminated at LTA conferences, C-SAP conferences, and other conferences in Europe and USA. Some of the content was used in publications listed in the Bibliography below. Because of the simplicity of the format of the streaming video material very little additional support or training was needed (although as stated technical assistance and partnership lead to the productions themselves and post production advice from technicians was also vital).

The collection of Online Visual Resources (Sociology, Politics and Culture) is currently merely listed alphabetically by themed area - but the resource would clearly be better presented as a wiki file, and this is being planned for the near future, this would allow a more general access, shaping and growth of the resource.

However, a recent challenge to the use of Google video links has arisen in the light of the possibility of inciting copyright infringement. Therefore a non-copyright collection is being produced.

The visual material was integrated into the modules' content, in particular addressing the following issues as described in the Learning Outcomes:

• professional codes of conduct
• negotiate access, conduct and transcribe ethnographic interview
• reflect critically on their own choices, approaches and performance
• developments in participant-observation, case study techniques*, life histories and work histories
• documentary and media research and textual analysis or performance analysis
• distinguish different types of interview
• current theoretical and epistemological debates concerning qualitative research

Academic targets which are addressed include a local LTA target No. 3 to:

Develop a range of learning contexts & models to meet the needs of a diverse student population & provide opportunities for culturally-diverse learning experiences.

Working with a number of representatives of local communities required some preliminary meetings and discussions before contributions were made onto video. The continued trust and connectedness of these groups is important and there is the need to maintain these contacts. One way forward has been to present to the Sheffield Hallam University African Caribbean Society and to elicit feedback on the development of the video sequences at different stages in its development. The work with the Aboriginal community at One Mile Dam demonstrates how research and teaching contexts may also have a social justice dimension. This vulnerable group (in danger of eviction) were able to use the research article and images on their website to publicise their case. See e.g. the following links: http://www.pariahnt.org/onemiledam/pages/Framing_the_Fringe_Dwellers.htm

Also see the letter of support from the author which was posted on the community web site: http://pariahnt.org/onemiledam/pages/Support_from_Sociologist.htm

There has been dissemination of video resources in Australia (Murdoch University) interest was expressed in the interview with Prof Critcher on moral panics. In the USA (St Francis College Brooklyn) where Under the Skin was shown in March 2007, it is apparently being used in teaching of the sociology of race and ethnicity. In Spain (University of Zaragoza) where Dr David Baringo was very interested in pursuing a similar methodology, and in Italy as a result of a 2006 Conference of the International Visual Sociology Association in Urbino, the website and slides have been of interest in the development of visual sociology. Sample materials used which draw upon the video and stills to illustrate Qualitative Methods examining case study approach, Critical Discourse Analysis, reliability and validity:

Difficult conditions in an informal 'itinerant' camp near Darwin - stark contrast to the tourist images of Aboriginality and the lucrative tourist market in Aboriginal artefacts and paintings.