I See the Ideas Visual Strategies for Teaching

I See the Ideas: Visual Strategies for Teaching Research Concepts Heidi Senior, University of Portland Background Transforming teaching: The case of THE 205, Biblical Traditions Modeling the research process in other disciplines Biblical Traditions is a required class at the University of Portland. Students write papers citing a variety of reference books and biblical commentaries. All “Bib Trad” students visit the library and receive similar research instruction. In Fall 2007 the librarians began incorporating visual techniques into instruction sessions. Transformation: organization of information on handout Brain-based research shows that some people – possibly the majority of people -- process new information in a visual way. They have difficulty accessing auditory information. Kinesthetic? Auditory? Visual? These are learning styles or modalities. A person who processes information visually can take in auditory information if it creates a picture. Transformation: Discussing strengths / types of resources Before: Text-heavy Before: Discussion of reference books and commentaries was text-heavy, and mostly auditory After: visual Put the patron / librarian in the picture to demonstrate Identifying subject databases Using the database for help with search terms (Communication Studies, Nursing, Education) After: Discussion has auditory and visual components Explaining primary, secondary, and tertiary information (Nursing, Biology) Photo courtesy of Keystone/Getty Images. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from Masterfile Premier database. Piagetian Development Theory Via visual communication, the learner moves from the pre-operational stage (focused on I/me) to concrete operational (reasoning logically) to formal operational (conceptualizing, or thinking symbolically). References: Arwood, E. L. (1991). Semantic and pragmatic language disorders. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers. Arwood, E. L. , Kaakinen, J, & Wynne, A. L. (2002). Nurse educators: Using visual language. Tigard, OR: APRICOT, Inc. Molnar, Andrew E. , and Matthew J. Hertenstein. (2007). Piaget, Jean (1896– 1980). Encyclopedia of Human Development. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http: //0 -sageereference. com. clark. up. edu: 80/humandevelopment/Article_n 486. html Guiding students through locating books and other research materials (History) Result: 40% drop in theology questions (vs. 10. 4% drop in all reference questions)