Beyond Talking Heads

Overview of the Article

• Title: Beyond Talking Heads: Sourced Comics and the Affordances of Multimodality

• Authors: Hannah Dickinson and Maggie M. Werner

• Source Info: Composition Studies, Spring 2015, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 51-74

• Key Idea: Analyzes sourced comics as pedagogical tools for developing both alphabetic and multimodal literacies.

Sourced Comics as a Pedagogical Tool

• Definition and Purpose: Sourced comics help students explore their relationships with scholarly sources, recognizing power relations and expanding their engagement strategies.

• Pedagogical Value:

  • Help demystify scholarly engagements.

  • Offer multiple design elements for deeper understanding.

• Methodology: Based on an assignment requiring students to create comics engaging in conversation with scholars.

Theoretical Background

• Metaphor of Conversation: Academic discourse is often framed as a conversation, a metaphor that often confuses students about their role.

• Previous Literature: Highlights perspectives from Bruffee, Ellis, Graff and Birkenstein, Harris, and others.

Assignment Implementation

• Resources Utilized: Comic Life 2 for comic creation.

• Classes Involved: Three different composition classes including introductory and advanced levels.

• Student Demographics: 60% women and 40% students of color, with considerations on racial and gender implications on student positioning.

Analysis of Student Comics

• Outcomes: Student-created comics provided insights into their relationships with scholarly sources:

  • Illustrated power imbalances and negotiation strategies.

  • Revealed that students rarely considered themselves equals to scholars, often taking positions of learner, experiencer, or organizer.

• Examples of Roles:

  • Learner: Students acknowledged their novice status and sought guidance from scholars.

  • Experiencer: Some referenced their own experiences, creating personal authority in discussions.

  • Organizer: Some positioned themselves as facilitators of conversations among scholars, enhancing their own authority through organization.

Affordances of the Comic Genre

• Multimodal Engagement: Comics encourage broader literacy by combining text and imagery.

• Critical Engagement: Help reveal and question power dynamics in academic conversations.

  • Challenge the notion of equality in scholarly discourse.

• Visual and Gestural Strategies: Students used design choices to convey their positions and experiences.

Insights from the Assignment

• Design Complexity: Comics are seen as multi-layered texts that allow for better representation of thought processes during research and writing.

• Role of Teacher vs. Students: Instructors can gain insights into student struggles with source integration and the negotiation of authority.

Implications of Findings

• Redefining Academic Conversation: Students' perceptions show a need for re-evaluating the metaphor of conversation in an academic context, recognizing inherent power imbalances.

• Contributions to Pedagogy: Encourages a pedagogical approach informed by social justice, guiding instructors in addressing power relations in academic discourse.

Acknowledgements and References

• Acknowledgements: Inspiration and funding sources were recognized for supporting this research project.

• References: An extensive list of cited works includes foundational texts by Jacobs, Bartholomae, and more, underscoring the article's academic grounding.