Technology, Art, and Curriculum: Teaching and Learning About Sexual Violence in an Innovative Educational Platform

• In Event: 18.012 - Challenging Dominant Narratives of Sexual Violence Through Participatory Visual Methodologies

Abstract

Objectives:
Docademia is an educational platform that promotes the ideas of under-represented voices by offering social documentaries, relevant curriculum, and live videoconferences. The platform helps educators to organize their sessions with a multidimensional teaching style. The direct communication component of the platform bridges difficult conversations by inviting individuals such as survivors of sexual assault to be a primary source in classrooms. This paper explores the platform’s application through teaching about the experience of a sexual assault survivor. The case study focuses on an in-class presentation by the subject and writer of the Docademia film for the facilitating instructor and 11 students participating in an undergraduate class. The study analyzes the experience of the students, the faculty member, and the subject and author of the film (i.e. the survivor), in discussing the issue of sexual violence.

Theoretical Framework:
This study is informed by the Theory of Multimedia Learning, which asserts that multimedia use can increase the success of learners, considering their multiple intelligences and learning styles (Mayer, 2003) This idea aligns with a multidimensional/non-linear teaching and learning model and speaks to the “multidimensional/ non-linear nature of contemporary society” (Crawford, 2014, p.58).

Modes of Inquiry:
The documentary-workshop session had two phases: 1) a documentary on sexual violence was screened in a classroom and narrated the story of Co-author about her experience as a survivor of sexual assault; 2) Co-author joined a Docademia videoconference in classroom to discuss her experience. The case study examines the experience through the facilitators’ self-reflections about the session. The researchers also conducted semi-structured interviews with the students about their educational experience after the session, for which IRB approval was obtained.

Data Sources:
In addition to self-reflections by the facilitators, the session’s discussions were videotaped and used for designing the guiding questions of the interviews with the students. The interviews covered two main aspects: 1) impacts of documentary-workshop on the students’ personal attitudes toward sexual violence and their learning experience; and 2) comparing the documentary-workshop with lecture-presentation teaching on the topic.

Results:
According to the study, the most significant impact of the experience for students was the understanding the lifelong feelings of sexual violence survivors. Learning about the aftermath of a trauma and the survival process through watching a documentary about Kleinman’s life, and then speaking directly with her, opened up a safe and constructive discussion space for them. Furthermore, the instructor believed the students’ high level of empathy with Kleinman’s experience opened doors to crucial conversations through access to a unique primary resource that may not be possible through traditional lecture or discussion on the topic.

Scholarly Significance:
Although there are attempts to show the positive effects of using videos in educational environments (Berk, 2009), very few studies have focused on multimedia learning on the topic of sexual violence. The study elaborates upon the idea that the medium of video can be used to navigate one’s narrative not just through the viewing experience, but through the maker’s experience as well.

Authors

• Nassim Abdi, Docademia

• Seyed Mohammad Hani Sadati, McGill University

• Jackie Bousek, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

• Loren Kleinman, Drew University

• Pempho Daza Chinkondenji, University of Massachusetts - Amherst