Many research projects are built
out of a theory as well as a method. That is, the researchers want to test
someone else’s conclusions by applying those conclusions (or theory) to a new
case.
Several of the assignments ask
students to extend or test the conclusions reached in a reading by doing a
similar project, trying out the approach and using the analytical lens on new
material. In this kind of assignment students have to read as a researcher to understand the method used,
to follow the argument being made and then apply the approach/conclusion of the
original researchers to new material. Helping students to read as a researcher
is thus an important part of the instruction in an inquiry-based writing course.
Reading Lutz and Collins' "The Photograph as an
Intersection of Gazes" to apply their analytical lens to new material.
Reading/work in preparation:
o
Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins’ “The Photograph as an
Intersection of Gazes”
o
the assignment (Lutz and Collins is used in assignment 5 of
Material Culture and assignment 1 in Visual Rhetoric)
o
students will probably have read and discussed the
introductory section, at least, of Chapter 1: Observing, especially the
section on working with visual materials
o
students bring in the photographs they have collected – they
should have 3-5 each
Class Discussion/activity:
Objective: have students identify and practice using the different
kinds of gaze outlined in the article by Lutz and Collins
Task: each group (3-4 students per group) examines the photographs
they have collected and identifies the kind(s) of gaze visible in them
following Lutz and Collins types. They should sort the photographs by the
seven types of gaze, presenting any questionable cases or odd examples to
the whole class for discussion.
Time:
(10 mins): be certain that students understand the seven types of gaze; this
may require a brief review of an earlier discussion. A handout listing the
seven types is useful (see below). This chart could be the result of an
Advanced Organizer or whole-class discussion done earlier activity and might
generate a brief description in the students own words of the key features
of each type. For a very quick group, adjust the time to create this chart
with key features first and then turn to the photographs.
(20 mins): work in groups to discuss each photograph and sort the full
collection into the seven types, note odd cases or disagreements
(20 mins): groups present odd cases and patterns they’ve encountered – are
the gaze types equally distributed across all the pictures, across each
individual’s collection, across all sources or subject matter? What might
account for these patterns?
Next step/ homework: students write the description of their
photographs to include an analysis of gaze
Notes: the same activity could be done with teacher-supplied
photographs before sending students to collect their own photographs to
analyze
As noted above, you might generate this chart either in a prior class
discussion or provide a blank version as an
Advanced Organizer before the reading.
