When we disengaged: a foiled attempt at teaching multimedia through autoethnography

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to transform a skills-based graduate course into a theory-driven multimedia storytelling course, a first-year assistant professor encounters diverse obstacles that upend their initial pedagogical intentions. This evocative autoethnography explores the course instructor's experiences as they deal with issues of decreasing student engagement, complex class dynamics, and growing institutional pressures. As the semester advances and the course becomes completely and forcefully transformed, several attempts are made to preserve key aspects of the original plan, despite the multiple failures encountered along the way. Reflecting on the problems evidenced throughout the entire semester, the instructor re-evaluates the pedagogical value of their approach, vis-à-vis the uncertainty and frustration encountered by their students.

Note on contributor

Dr. Korin is Assistant Professor of Spanish Language Media at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. After many years of professional experience in various areas of communication in Venezuela, he joined academia upon completing his doctoral degree. His research addresses two areas: the use of digital technologies from the theoretical approach of critical and cultural studies and representation and identity of Spanish-speaking populations in American diasporas.

Notes

1 My intention for the course is to have students (re)construct their self-referential narratives through the means of digital media creation we will be studying throughout the semester. In doing so, it is my hope that critical reflection will emerge from the process of creating media while interrogating the interconnections of their lived experiences and their societal and cultural connections.