Learning multiple literacies with visual representation

Abstract

By 2009, a new subject, Liberal Studies, will be implemented as one of the core subjects in the Hong Kong senior secondary school curriculum. In addition, Independent Enquiry Studies in written or non-written mode is proposed as a means of school-based assessment of the new subject. The non-written mode of the Independent Enquiry Studies has shifted the learning paradigm to multiple literacies which include using media, visual and technology as tools for students to construct knowledge. In preparing for the Independent Enquiry Studies, a class of 38 senior secondary students and their teachers were invited to participate in a project adopting a framework of learning with visual knowledge representation and multiple literacies. Students were involved in a year-long individual video-based enquiry project, which required them to develop a visual knowledge representation with the manipulation of text, visual resources, media and technology. Questionnaires, observations and semi-structured interviews were used to investigate students’ learning using non-written visual representation at different stages of the Independent Enquiry Studies. Preliminary findings with the stages of the Independent Enquiry Studies showed that students were able to manipulate multiple literacies in the process of visual knowledge production. This finding shows the potential of learning multiple literacies with visual knowledge production.