Students' Experiences Designing Critical Race Theory–Oriented Visual Essays

• In Event: Selecting and Reimagining Technology for Curricular and Equity Goals

Abstract

Research has called for nuanced scholarly investigations that synergize, complicate, and advance social theories of literacy. Accordingly, this study melds critical literacy, critical race theory, and multiliteracies to distill students’ experiences reading the canonical Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The study investigates: What are students’ design experiences reading canonical literature through a critical race theory lens, and how does multimodal design support their propensity for critical literacies? To examine this question, the researchers conducted a case study of 24 eleventh-grade students in an American literature course. Layers of inductive analysis reveal three prominent findings: students’ experiences with literal transmediation, students’ difficulty with curation, and barriers to students’ imaginative transmediation. Theoretical and pedagogical implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Authors

• Jeanne Dyches, Iowa State University

• Emily S. Howell, Clemson University

• Deani Thomas, Iowa State University

• Amy Updegraff, Iowa State University