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Teaching Teachers How to Utilize Photography in Their Curriculum
Daniel Philip Shepardson
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Subject: Teacher Education/Photography
Grade: Higher Education
"The originality of [this] teaching module lies at the identification
and application of photography in instruction, and the relationships
between the instructional modes of photography and cognition."
Purpose and Description of Project
Daniel Shepardson designed and implemented a teaching module to
show teachers how to use the instructional modes of photography
within their instruction and curriculum. His goals were:
- to improve teacher instruction by giving them an understanding of
the basic instructional modes of photography and how to integrate
these into the curriculum, by enhancing teacher creativity, and
by enabling teachers to improve the creative and cognitive domains
of their curriculum,
- to improve the creative and cognitive
skills of the students.
Shepardson used his module with 15 experienced
teachers who explored the five instructional modes of photography:
- exemplary photography, in which the teacher uses photography
to develop examples of curriculum concepts;
- evaluative photography,
in which the students are assigned to photograph particular concepts;
- interpretive photography, divided into four levels;
- creative photography, in which students use photography to develop an essay
or slide show illustrating a concept;
- writing enhancement,
in which photos are used to stimulate students' creative thinking.
Activities
The module activities were divided into four phases. During the
two-hour implementation session, the first three phases were carried
out. As the first phase, the teachers participated in lecture,
group discussion, and question-and-answer activities on the relationship
of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives to the instructional
modes of photography. The group also brainstormed a list of example
activities utilizing these instructional modes. The emulation
phase involved a slide demonstration of how photography's instructional
modes are used in instruction. Prior to the third phase, teachers
were asked to use the criteria established by Bloom to prepare
individual written evaluations of the instructional modes of photography;
this was followed by a lecture and discussion of the relationship
between cognition and the instructional modes of photography.
Shepardson introduced the final phase-curriculum development-and
then the teachers were given two weeks to use the
camera
to take
and develop instructional concept photographs. The photos, exemplifying
the various instructional modes, were to be used in developing
a lesson plan designed to meet the specific needs of each teacher.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
In developing his teaching module, Shepardson made use of a number
of written resources on educational objectives. He provided each
teacher with all the necessary lesson plans, handouts, and photographic
examples that explained and illustrated the instructional modes
of photography and how to use them.
Outcomes and Adaptability
An analysis of pre- and post-tests indicated that teacher understanding
of the instructional modes of photography and how they could be
integrated into the curriculum had improved significantly-from
a mean score of 18% to a mean of 43%. That the module stimulated
interest in utilizing photography in the curriculum is shown by
the same questionnaire; a mean rating of 4.3 resulted when the
teachers were asked whether they would now use photography as
an instructional tool. Shepardson found the teachers' enthusiasm
to be unexpectedly high. His subjective evaluation of the curriculum
plans and materials developed by the teachers led him to the conclusion
that teacher creativity had increased.
Shepardson suggests that the module is ideal for both pre-service
and in-service teacher education programs. He finds the "hands-on,"
emulation, curriculum development, and practicum activities particularly
valuable.