MultiMAP:exploring multimodal artefact pedagogy in digital higher education

In spite of an established and growing body of literature in the field of “multimodality”, there are scarce examples in education studies that acknowledge and explore this approach to communication in HE pedagogy (teaching-learning). This paper reports preliminary findings of a study on multimodal artefacts pedagogy in a postgraduate online course in Education. The focus reported here is on how students perceive the pedagogical value of creating multimodal artefacts that consist of a digital pictorial image and an accompanying narrative. The results point at three pedagogical experiences: the tension within a “monomodal assessment –multimodal activity” orientation, the “outsider” status of an image-based activity in a PG Education course, and the “liminal” experience that the activity triggered as a route to a transformative learning experience. Some implications for HE pedagogical designs are briefly noted