Using photo elicitation to understand first-year student experiences: Student metaphors of life, university and learning

Abstract

The transition from school to university is challenging and a greater knowledge of the first-year student experience will enable staff to better support their students. University- and government-run student surveys fail to capture the depth and breadth of the first-year experience and so qualitative research is needed to get a more nuanced and holistic understanding of students’ lives. The study described in this article used a photo elicitation method. We asked students to choose four images that represented their first year at university. The data – the chosen photographs and the students’ explanations of their choices – were thematically analysed, focusing in particular on the diverse metaphors students used to depict three dimensions of their experiences: life, university and learning. The findings highlight the dual nature of the transition to university – learning to be a university student and learning to be an adult – as well as the challenges and stresses of that process. The lack of agency that students felt is evident. The students likened their journey to a rollercoaster and talked of not being able to keep up with the fast-moving curriculum. They depicted themselves as passive acquirers of knowledge. The findings offer new ways for staff to understand the challenges that potentially disrupt student engagement in the first year. Both students and staff could benefit from recognising the metaphors in their thinking and, potentially, seeking new metaphors that might reveal different and more positive ways of experiencing the first year in higher education.

Naturalness and the Legitimacy of Thoroughbred Racing: A Photo-Elicitation Study with Industry and Animal Advocacy Informants

“…Photo-elicitation was initially applied in anthropological research, with Collier [ 71 ] often cited as the first published study [ 72 , 73 ]. It has subsequently been used in anthropological and ethnographic research [ 74 , 75 ]; in sociological [ 76 ], educational [ 77 , 78 , 79 ] and psychological research [ 80 ] and in organisational [ 81 ] and health-related studies [ 82 ]. More recently, it has been used in research contexts broadly related to the thoroughbred industry.…”

Photo‐experiencing and reflective listening: A trauma‐informed photo‐elicitation method to explore day‐to‐day health experiences

“…Recently, photo-elicitation has been used to evaluate psychological wellbeing (e.g., Bornioli et al, 2018), the psychosocial impacts of illness or disability (e.g., Singh et al, 2020), and the lived experiences of specific populations of interest (e.g., Kahu & Picton, 2020).…”

“…Photo‐elicitation is typically conducted on the individual level, and is a particularly promising method to conduct research on sensitive topics, particularly when it is participant driven (e.g., Van Auken et al., 2010) as it has been described as a methodology that enhances participant empowerment by making meaningful experiences visible while altering historical power dynamics between the researcher and participant (Copes et al., 2018; Oliffe & Bottorff, 2007; Lapenta, 2011). Recently, photo‐elicitation has been used to evaluate psychological wellbeing (e.g., Bornioli et al., 2018), the psychosocial impacts of illness or disability (e.g., Singh et al., 2020), and the lived experiences of specific populations of interest (e.g., Kahu & Picton, 2020).…”

Student eXperience: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Kahu and Picton have analyzed first year students' experiences using photo elicitation. They analyzed the information provided by the students thematically and categorized it, focusing on three dimensions of their experience: life, university and learning [61]. Other authors have highlighted the use of surveys focused on students' experiences, such as the Australian Student Experience Survey (SES) [62,63].…”

“…It is important to mention that the experiences of students who transition to higher education turn out to be an important factor in terms of their learning outcomes and engagement [87]. As the experiences of first year students have such a significant impact on their perception and academic results, it is possible to explain the large number of studies focused on this group of students [26,61,77,78,88,89].…”