(i)Square dancing: Visual analysis in the classroom and beyond

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a dynamic, collaborative, and dialogic strategy for guiding students (and experienced researcher teams) through rudimentary forms of visual analysis using draw-and-write datasets. The approach identifies five sequential stages of the visual analysis process and further delineates twenty activities therein. Akin to the instructional "calls" spoken during square dancing, a leader with a script verbally prompts participants through a series of observational and analytical exercises and poses discussion questions along the way. The interactive experience unfolds stepwise and engenders in participants a feeling of intimacy with the images; introduces an array of analytical lenses; gives rise to discoveries about the concept being studied visually; kindles esprit de corps; and is fun. To encourage the adoption of this approach - called (i)Square Dancing - a blueprint for a student-geared, draw-and-write study and the leader's script are provided for educators and scholars alike to borrow and customize to their own courses, research questions, and disciplines.