Reflexive Photography as an Alternative Method for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience
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This article describes an alternative method for the study of first-year students’ impressions of their first-semester experiences in higher education. Using an innovative, phenomenologically-oriented, individual-environment interaction technique, a sample of undergraduates from a public four-year comprehensive university were asked to take a series of reflexive photographs, representative of their impressions of the university, describe in writing the reasons why the photographs illustrated their experiences, and discuss the various underlying themes of their photographs in subsequent focus-group interviews. This reflexive photography technique breaks the study subjects away from the typical researcher-oriented quantitative technique and allows for a more open and creative analysis of student perceptions. Our research revealed a number of primary themes including perceptions about the university’s physical environment, interactions with faculty, interactions with other students, student support services, and career counseling and preparation for the future with a level of detail and university specificity not available through quantitative techniques alone.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Achieving Student Success: Strategies for Creating Partnerships Between Academic and Student Affairs
- Reflexive Photography as an Alternative Method for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience
- Signaling Student Retention With Prematriculation Data
- Differences in Self-Reported Intellectual and Social Gains Between African American and White College Students at Predominantly White Institutions: Implications for Student Affairs Professionals
- An Understanding of Students' Perspectives Toward Diversity at a Midwestern Health Professional School: A Phenomenological Study
- Cultural Group Perceptions of Racial Climates in Residence Halls
- Effects of Greek Membership on Academic Integrity, Alcohol Abuse, and Risky Sexual Behavior at a Small College
- Member Acquisition and Retention Model
- The Mental Health Needs of Today's College Students: Challenges and Recommendations
- The Clery Act and Its Influence on Campus Law Enforcement Practices
- NASPA Journal - Fall 2003, volume 41, issue 1
- Table of Contents & Introduction
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Achieving Student Success: Strategies for Creating Partnerships Between Academic and Student Affairs
- Reflexive Photography as an Alternative Method for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience
- Signaling Student Retention With Prematriculation Data
- Differences in Self-Reported Intellectual and Social Gains Between African American and White College Students at Predominantly White Institutions: Implications for Student Affairs Professionals
- An Understanding of Students' Perspectives Toward Diversity at a Midwestern Health Professional School: A Phenomenological Study
- Cultural Group Perceptions of Racial Climates in Residence Halls
- Effects of Greek Membership on Academic Integrity, Alcohol Abuse, and Risky Sexual Behavior at a Small College
- Member Acquisition and Retention Model
- The Mental Health Needs of Today's College Students: Challenges and Recommendations
- The Clery Act and Its Influence on Campus Law Enforcement Practices
- NASPA Journal - Fall 2003, volume 41, issue 1
- Table of Contents & Introduction
