Pedagogy Chamber
...through electronic and visual mediums, students become participants who can shape their learning outcomes and performances (Deacon, 2001, p.5)
Question Authority, Question Development, Question the Page
Gunther Kress and His TOOL KITS:
"writing may give meaning beyond what's going on" (Kress, Youtube)
-paragraphs
-color schemes
-syntax structure
-font types
These tools a writer uses to arrive at meaning. Meaning should leap out from the page.
Pedagogy, the teaching "styles" of educators from a variety of backgrounds has typically leaned towards traditional methods. But in the 21st century, technology is becoming ever present in the classroom. For English studies, becoming sensitive to Art, Film, and Technology is crucial for the survival of the discipline.
What does Montage Mean for...
Pedagogy
"montage" = Fluid, adaptable approach
Breaking from dependence on traditional text
Multimodal compositions
Text:
Alignment,
Juxtaposition
Merging of images and text
Meaning is conjoined
Film
Sequencing
editing
Cutting from one shot to the next
Encouraging interpretation over plot devices
Grushka (2010) illustrates this “visual learning and performative pedagogy,” where the impact on the student is a “socio-cultural” one in which students learn to decipher the meaning behind images in a critical way that provides a deeper connection to life experiences and visuals, allowing for students to engage in a representational analysis of complex subjects (p. 21).
Kumpf’s article on “visual metadiscourse,” which argues that visuals ignite a type of cognitive creativity, combining both traditional academic prowess with an attention towards visual design, which can help assess and apply montage theory to actual practice and evaluation.
Concepts such as visual metadiscourse proactively engage with learning outcomes, suggesting that multimodal texts build upon existing knowledge by not only drawing the reader's attention, but influencing reception of texts, keeping the student in a suspended state of discovery (Kumpf, 2000, p. 401).
Tulley and Blair (2009) discuss, integrated multimodality does not suggest that only one course or one field should be offered to instruct students, but instead such integration should be used to rethink all genres of studies so students can build critical thinking and writing skills using the technologies they already use from day to day (p. 442).
Students can create interesting visuals that explore creative composition, performative pedagogy, through visual infographic and presentation sites such as the simple sample created by MontageAlive below
DigiRhet.org (2006) explains that the tools of technology provide a connection among students in order for participation and inter-communication to thrive where it did not exist before, and, because of digital spaces, ideas can now be distributed and understood faster among diverse groups of people (p. 238).
Wysocki’s Monitoring Order uses colors, visual metaphors, and graphic repetitions to offer deep reflection about intuitions, presumptions, and mindsets regarding the visual in relation to text, ultimately turning the reader or viewer into a potential designer (Hocks, 2003, p. 638).
Krause (2004) discusses the awareness of “The Three C’s of Design”—composition (placement, spacing, flow), components (photos, icons, backgrounds), and concept (message, style, theme)—as ways of providing a framework for analyzing a multimodal assignment’s effect (p.10). By carefully examining these principles, instructors can create new rubrics or criteria, asking, for example, if an appropriate color palette is used, is the spacing proportional, and is the overall theme cohesive.
New rubrics will have to stress unity—that a design is effective when all of the components, concepts, and composition are working together to attract the correct audience and establish intent (Krause, 2004, p. 11).
Duncum (2004) also shows this fluency with evaluating student-generated film by suggesting students must understand how ideas and atmospheres are established through the use of the camera, lighting, editing process and techniques, as well as sound which establishes mood for the viewer (p. 260).
Tulley and Blair (2009) harken back to Kumpf’s theory when they discuss the connection between hypertext and collaboration in which the reader becomes a participant who can “manipulate the initial author’s text, complicating and broadening the notion of authorship” (p. 445).
Click here to access a sample grading rubric created through MontageAlive in answer to Krause's statement.
*Note: Downloads as a Word Doc*
Metros (2008) affirms that education involving the Internet and multimedia will enhance visual composition and will create a more dynamic purpose that will reach a multitude of audiences, accelerating and affecting learning outcomes and behaviors (p.106).