Seeing as Well as Hearing: Responses to the Use of an Alternative Form of Data Representation in a Study of Students' Environmental Perceptions. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This study examined the perceptions of African American college students about the campus environment at a predominantly white university, using reflexive photographs and photo elicitation interviews. Five female and five male students were asked to take photographs on campus that illustrated their impressions of the university or that would help them to describe their impressions. Participants also recorded their thoughts and feelings about the campus in a notebook and completed interviews in which they were asked to interpret their photographs. Six overall impressions of the campus emerged: campus beauty; consciousness of being black; influence of Greek-letter organizations; prevalence of voluntary racial and cultural separation; and preparation for the future. The participants also reported that the employment of an alternative data representation promoted a deep level of reflective thinking, one that they thought went deeper than if they had been asked only to participate in interviews. Some of the students also reported that the visual component increased their level of commitment to completing participation in the study. (Contains 55 references.) (MDM)