ECU History Education - Literacy Modules |
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First read the post from "Investigating US History." Be sure to scroll down to the segment entitled "Visual Evidence in the History Classroom." As you will notice, the author presents two challenges to teachers using graphic or visual representations with students. One is that we too often use visuals or graphics as a supplement to the material being taught - as presentational tools - and not as instructional or content delivery tools (meaning we use the image to teach the content). The second issue is that we often use visuals to entertain students and not to stretch them as historical thinkers. Describe a time when you had a teacher "miss the mark" using a visual to teach history by failing to substantively analyze an image, graphic, or visual. How might that teacher have better used the image, graphic, or visual to teach content or to develop analytical skills? Post your response as a comment below.
35 Comments
Ryan Jackson
3/17/2016 07:16:22 am
One time I had a teacher teach the 1920s in just pictures. Each topic, he would show a picture and then move on to the next topic in the 1920s. He would show a picture of the flapper and say something like, this is the new way women dressed in the 1920s, and that would be it. He could have instead discussed the flapper, what a flapper was and why it changed and then showed a picture of a flapper to provide an example. This way it would help show who and what a flapper was and what a flapper looked like. That way, the visual would provide context for the content and students may retain the information better. I also had a teacher use graphs to show population change with no context. The graph to me was just a bunch of lines on a screen/paper. If context was provided, the graph would not have been as confusing.
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Eric Walls
3/25/2016 10:36:35 am
I can easily see instructors falling into a trap of understanding the need for using visual images but failing to use them to their fullest potential by explaining the full context of the image and having the students analyze and think about what they are seeing. Honestly, when I was in school back in the 80s and 90s, the only visual images I was exposed to in classes were the images in textbooks and when we would occasionally watch a historical film or movie. My teachers never really delved into visuals too much, partly because visual teaching practices in general were not that prevalent in those days. With that being said, I think that anytime you introduce any visual into instruction, you have to take the time to ask the students to think about what they are seeing. Have them describe the image in their own words. Ask them how the image makes them feel. Provide them context and ask them to connect what they are seeing to the central theme or essential question of the lesson. Thinking maps and compare and contrast techniques can be very useful in providing the students the tools they need to fully integrate the visuals into the overarching concept.
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Haley Sparrow
3/25/2016 04:02:21 pm
In a history class, I had a teacher that was discussing a battle in a war and provided a visual representation of the strategies of each side and how the battle played out, but the image was never referred to. It was basically just on the powerpoint slide as a filler, and it really confused me. It was overwhelming because the teacher was discussing information about the battle (who participated, who won, etc) but never really discussed the strategy or any of the other information that was provided by the battle strategy image, which confused me more than helped me. I think that the battle could have been taught better with just the image of the battle and the strategies each side chose. This way, the teacher could have gone step by step and explained what each side did, and how it worked for one side and not the other, which would have eliminated a lot of confusion.
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Tracy Moore
3/26/2016 06:53:28 am
I don't think you can use pictures as a sole source of information in a history classroom. Pictures, in my opinion, are aids, we show them and discuss them but they can't be used as a substitute for a real lesson. Students must get the background information before they can truly analyze a picture to understand its importance. Once they have the information, then students can delve into picture analysis.
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Ann Marie Ballance
3/26/2016 12:37:36 pm
Incorporating visuals in a lesson is extremely important for many reasons. Visual images help many students retain and organize information. Specifically, for students who are visual learners, they retain information best when it is provided in a visual form because they tend to process most information as visuals in their head when a visual is not provided. In addition, students who read below grade level can benefit from analyzing visual texts because they do not have to read as much. In history, visuals are also helpful considering that multiple types exist, and the visuals often tell parts of the story and culture that cannot be taught through just the student reading or the teacher talking. When using visuals in the classroom, teachers need to show students how to use them if it is a chart or graphic organizer. Also, teachers need to provide an example at the front of the classroom for them. It is also important to use multiple visuals to engage students. Teachers should rely solely on visual representations because not all students are visual learners, but there should be ample incorporation of visuals for students who are, especially when giving directions.
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Jeanann Woodard
3/26/2016 05:49:13 pm
I most dislike when teachers or any presenter puts up an image on a screen but never verbally alludes to it nor points to it. This leaves my thoughts trailing off contemplating why they chose that picture and what they were trying to say with its use. Alternatively, when teachers actually point out aspects of the visual and ask questions about it, that concept becomes even more clear in my mind. I think this can really be useful in the high school classroom. For example, Mrs. Griffin uses political cartoons to teach students viewpoints on a topic. She has them address the different objects and what they symbolize, describe what is happening, explain what the message of the cartoon is intended to be, and discover the author's point of view. Through this analysis, students learn a lot about the air of the time of the political cartoon and begin to approach sources in the way of historians.
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Rebekkah Scott
3/27/2016 10:59:12 pm
One big memory that really popped out to me when thinking about this topic was my World History teacher from high school. She was definitely a lover of PowerPoint and would decorate her presentations in all sorts of images but would never allude to them. Another memory that came to me was in a Vietnam War class in high school when we were presented with political cartoons about World War I and were simply told what they meant without being able to analyze it at all. I think both of these teachers fell short because they didn't try to link significance to these pictures and didn't use them to the advantage that they could have reached. As a teacher, it can likely be very challenging to fit this in, and I think it really all leads back to approaching uses of images as a way of relaying content versus supplementing what students have already been taught. For example, if my Vietnam War teacher had used the cartoon to teach us about an event or the state of the people during the Vietnam War versus showing it to us after the lecture, I think he would have likely pointed out more details versus handing us a general description without much depth. Additionally, I think if he would have let us analyze it, then we might have gotten much more out of the lesson.
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Angela Anskis
3/28/2016 09:35:28 am
I've definitely had teachers who did not use visual aids to their fullest potential, or as a substitute for the actual material. I remember having a teacher in middle school show us a picture of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus. She showed us the image, with Rosa Parks sitting in front of a white man looking the other way, and explained how "tired" she was from that day. Because she was so tired, Rosa Parks rebelled and sat upfront, which was significant because she was a major Civil Rights Movement leader. From knowing what I know now, this is ridiculous and historically inaccurate. I can see how the picture looks this way, but it is not how the story actually goes. This type of mistake or oversimplification of content can definitely happen when using visual aids such as photographs. Teachers need to be careful, making sure that they explain the "big picture" in addition to what they are showing.
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Cory Kimball
4/1/2016 07:11:27 am
One of my World history teachers in high school showed our class a presentation of the aftermath of World War Two only using still images with no captions and not talking about the images during the presentation. The one part of the presentation that I remember distinctly was that I saw images from at least both Germany and Britain, so I do know that the presentation included multiple nations. I feel that if the teacher had discussed the images, or even gave a caption on the location of the images and the magnitude of the destruction, it may have helped students understand exactly how widespread and devastating the damage following World War Two was.
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Ashlyn Moss
4/1/2016 12:04:29 pm
In my 1 to 1 practicum I used political cartoons to teach the students attitude toward the progressive presidents versus the 1920's presidents on their perceived notions of what these presidents actually did. There were 5 political cartoons and I did the first two with the students as a review of the progressive presidents and had the students analyze the last 3 on their own. I should have questioned the students further when analyzing each of the cartoons and when I went over the last 3 cartoons. The answers that I got for students only stayed on the surface level and I should have further questioned the students for evidence and reasoning to better develop their analytical skills.
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Tyler Buie
4/1/2016 01:20:51 pm
The biggest problem with visual aids is teachers falling into a pattern and wanting to use them all the time. Constantly uses them renders then ineffective after awhile. Also visual aids are not always used correctly. If a teacher puts up a picture and says look at this and then goes to the next slide with lot discussing the key elements of the picture then you might as well sit and twiddle your thumbs because you are just wasting your time. If your not going to use visual aids to teach then you might as well not use them.
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Abby Fallahee
4/1/2016 02:56:23 pm
Very rarely, if ever, did any of my history teachers in high school use visual aids during their lessons. I had to spend a good 20 minutes trying to remember if any of them did. I think that my high school teachers could have incorporated more visuals into their lectures and could have given us more visual activities. A few times in my U.S. history class in high school, my teacher had us create political cartoons about a concept or event. I loved doing those, because they ask students to get creative with their assignment and visually explain a term or event in a way that makes sense to them.
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Holt Cody
4/1/2016 04:01:30 pm
I had a few teachers in high school that would start every day with some sort of visual aid warm up. It became very redundant and it was very frustrating to have to do the same routine day in and day out. In that way I can see it as a problem because without variation the students have a harder time retaining information.
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4/1/2016 06:13:39 pm
Teachers have to have some sort of variation in their teaching styles if they do not, then the content becomes very redundant and learning slows down. Mrs. Bryan utilizes technology one day, cool activities the next, and then other technologies. She always has a variation which i believe helps her be as good as she is.
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Jordan Beck
4/1/2016 08:26:54 pm
Teachers need to be careful when using visual aids i know i had some teacher that relied heavily on visual aids and that can cause problems. No matter how you present information to the students if use the same strategy over and over again its effectiveness will eventually wear off. Also as teachers we need to make sure we are using visual aids correctly and at the right time.
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Jacob Lyons
4/3/2016 10:51:42 am
I remember when I first saw the famous image of the woman with her hand on her chin and her two children with their heads on her shoulders during the Great Depression. The first time I saw that image the only thing said by the teacher while viewing the image was "this is what the Great Depression looked like." I remembering not understanding the picture nor the Great Depression any better after viewing what I later found out to be an iconic photograph.
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Zachary Dale
4/3/2016 07:35:25 pm
I don't think I have ever had a teacher who has "missed the mark" on visual analysis. In fact I had several teachers effectively use them to engage our classroom. One of which was a Civics class in high school where our teacher showed us a video using Graphic Facilitation to explain "Economic Motivation". I think that it was a very appealing way of getting students to see the connections between concepts in a visual manner. As I am a slow note taker, it was beneficial that the video she used was merely a conceptual video and not one we had to take notes on, as the presenter went much to fast for me to take notes with.
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Robert Lynch
4/4/2016 06:35:05 pm
I cannot recall a specific time where a teacher, or professor, missed the mark, but that does not mean it did not happen. I do remember times in high school, watching a movie that had nothing to do with our class or content. In this case, that teacher could have chose a movie that had something to do with the material in the class. He could have taught the lesson and led up to a movie that is a Hollywood representation of what happened. Or could have chosen a documentary on an influential figure, or group of people. For me, these seem like suggestions that would be easy to identify for almost any educator.
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Caleb Mason
4/11/2016 01:16:49 pm
I haven't sen a teacher miss the mark very much, but I do remember a teacher showing a clip of warfare from the movie 300 and by the end of the video the students, who were very engaged, were believers of the entire scene. I think the scene was used as the teaching method as opposed as a supplement as there were several historical falsities within the scene.
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Bryan Lameu
4/26/2016 06:08:04 pm
Now at ECU I have had professors put pictures up with their lecture, nothing about the picture is said or described it just sits there on the screen, more of a distraction than an actual tool to help learn the material. The picture is relevant to the lecture and the course but it would be more beneficial if the picture on the screen was actually used as primary source to analyze prior to the lecture, which would help stimulate our brains before the lesson.
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Heather Hamby
5/2/2016 09:08:16 pm
I cannot think of a specific moment when any of my teachers missed the mark using visual presentations. However, I know in high school that several teacher often showed movies simply as a way to kill a class period and entertain us. I believe a problem that can often occur with using movies in a history class is that students often take the movie as fact. When they are used teachers should make an effort to help students understand that most movies are not historically accurate.
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Patrick Phillips
5/3/2017 11:47:08 am
The one and only time I can think of when a teacher missed the mark of using a visual during a presentation was whenever we had a lesson on WWII and she used the Chinese flag to represent Japan instead of the Japanese flag. Other than that I can't think of any other moment where a teacher failed to present a visual effectively. I can think of other times where a teacher showed us a video for three days that was from the 1930's and about the Great Depression. Although I thought the video was interesting, it was clear to see others didn't as many of my classmates were fast asleep during the entire class period. In order to prevent this I thought my teacher should've had some sort of summarizing assignment or movie questions to better ensure students were actually paying attention
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Connor Wilkins
5/3/2017 12:13:30 pm
I cannot remember a specific time where a teacher just completely screwed up a visual, but I know that it certainly happens. Most teachers tend to just use visuals as a side note that does not add any value to the lesson. Some teachers even show movies as a time waster, and to be honest I think that is a cop out. If you are going to do that then at least have some sort of discussion about it or give the students something to complete afterwards.
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William Hunt
5/3/2017 01:13:53 pm
While observing for HIED.2123, I sat in on a Civics classroom, during a lesson on voting advertisements. The teacher used a website and showed numerous video advertisements over the past sixty years to show the evolution from the first ads, to the ones in the then current 2016 election. The teacher then showed Trump and Clinton ads, which led to an off topic discussion/argument over the election, deviating from the purpose of the lesson.
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Deja Cook-Brown
5/3/2017 01:45:02 pm
I cannot recall a teacher that I had, that missed the mark using visual representations in the classroom. I can see that some teachers may use videos and pictures to draw students in, rather than using it as a way to stretch students learning. Some may use them as a way to get a break. But I definitely think that using videos and images to stretch the lesson and getting students to think more is important. We can reach them in a number of different ways, than just standing up and reading off notes.
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Noah Shuler
5/3/2017 06:19:50 pm
Just last week, I had a professor that used a powerpoint full of historical images for nothing more than a background image. In fact I have seen that in hundreds of lectures over the past several years. While I see the value of such use, I think that great opportunities to develop visual analysis skills are being missed. These primary sources are being used as mere decoration, which is a tragedy. We (college students) have rarely been trained to effectively carry out visual analysis, even in our history courses. I know that in HIST 3000, we discussed this issue slightly, but we barely touched on the real missed opportunity aspect of the problem.
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Travis Ambrose
5/4/2017 05:58:12 am
First freshmen year of highschool, world history. I had a teacher that used videos and films on early civilizations to teach us about early man. However nice it was to spend the afternoon watching films, many of us failed the exam at the end of the course, due to lack of any knowledge gained. This teacher could of at lest used the films as some sort of back drop for a lesson or to help us see what life may of been then. Though using visual and graphic examples of the past should be well throughout and useful towards the lessons.
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Kyle Hunt
5/4/2017 07:50:49 am
Visual aids in the classroom can be tricky when deciding what piece to use. There is an overabundance of online resources that are at a teacher's disposal that picking one or even a few would be a challenging task. If a teacher wants to use film they would have to watch it before class to avoid explicit language and other vulgar content. Overall, this strategy is easier than most considering the resources are available, it has proven to be effective, and students generally enjoy it.
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Allyson Buck
5/4/2017 08:46:11 am
Teachers could find an issue with finding a picture that is flashy enough to capture the attention of the students but have enough content related images to match the lesson. Teachers have the ability to make visual aids an amazing experience for both the teacher and the students if used correctly.
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Alisha Hunt
3/27/2020 08:43:53 pm
I Think the only time I had a teacher that I feel really missed the mark was with my Hist 3000 class and a political cartoon pertaining to Turkey. I don't remember the context of it entirely but I feel that my (and the whole rest of the class) interpretation and that of my teacher's was completely off base. When we questioned her as to why she felt that way, in hopes of better understanding, she didn't really give us an answer other than to shrug and say "Well if you don't know, I can't really explain it to you." I feel like she completely missed not only a point to establish a relationship with her students but impart knowledge that we didn't understand. It felt like a missed opportunity that did nothing but make our class even more unhappy with her.
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Nick Gozlan
4/6/2020 12:55:02 pm
I cannot recall a time where a teacher "missed the mark" while using a graphic. However, a common problem is using images that may be too complicated. Being able to properly implement images and videos is key to helping this generation of students.
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Johnathan A. Espino
4/7/2020 05:20:07 pm
In general teachers often miss the mark with major events, like World War II. Rather than teach a lesson and birth creative historical thinkers, we are given posters or footage and are told this was result of the war. Many things can be analyzed from public message, subliminal message, compare the message to the actual society at the time and so on. Rather than give all of the information, allowing students to create information based on actual content teachings. They rely too heavily on the pictures and posters to carry the weight of the lesson rather than the lecture, notes and teacher administrated information.
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Joseph Phaneuf
4/7/2020 07:22:26 pm
The most recent time a teacher "missed the mark" using a graphic was in my Japanese history class. The professor was discussing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and he showed us pictures of the destruction for shock value, and nothing further beyond that. Yeah, the atomic bombings were destructive, I've known that since I was a little kid. There was no further discussion around it, as if the professor wanted to get through that section as soon as possible. I feel as though the opportunity to delve deeper into the topic was missed, and that could have been remedied by discussing why the bombs were dropped, what were the alternatives, and if the bombings were the sole reason for Japanese capitulation.
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Tom Bonin
4/8/2020 09:11:38 am
One time a teacher missed the mark was in my Imperial Russian History class, when the professor provided a political cartoon. Instead of actually explaining the cartoon and providing a detailed analysis, he just showed it and moved on. I think it would have been improved if he had done a detailed analysis and discussion to help us understand and appreciate it.
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Caleb Woolard
5/4/2020 11:22:48 pm
I have had many teachers use old political cartoons as visuals for a class. A problem with this, however, is that they often used words and references that neither I nor my classmates knew about. It would have been much more helpful if my teachers had explained the references before showing us the cartoon, not after
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