Digital content is increasingly present everywhere in this rapidly changing society. By its nature, everyone can be a content provider. As an educator, the researcher believes that students need to understand their role as content providers to create content in a positive way. At the institution that the researcher teaches, students in the Communication program are required to be enrolled in Visual Communication, where students expand their skills in graphic design and content creation. This study uses qualitative data gained through interviews with 105 undergraduate students to explore their perspectives related to assignments, such as creating an image essay about kindness, curriculum design, and their learning experiences. To measure the respondents’ opinions about the assignments, curriculum design, and their learning experiences, an individual score on attitudinal questions was measured on a five-point Likert scale between “1” and “5”. Responses were coded that a “5” indicated a high level of the attitudinal measure, while a “1” reflected a low level. Collected data were entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to generate descriptive statistics to examine the results. The goal of this study is to provide insights into how teaching this course and its curriculum help students use their design skills in a positive way for themselves and their peers. Based on the results, students express that the assignments and curriculum inspire them to use their skills to create content that has positive effects on society, such as spreading kindness, and the work they create enriches their learning experiences.

Authors:
Leo Chan, University of Houston-Clear Lake, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Leo Chan is currently an Associate Professor of Communication Program at University of Houston-Clear Lake. His teaching interests include: Visual Communication, Communication & Digital Media Internship, Portfolio, and Digital Media and Society.

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