Multimodality In Higher Education

Multimodality in Higher Education showcases new directions in multimodal research and also focuses on teaching multimodal text production and writing pedagogy. It theorizes writing practices and writing pedagogy in Higher Educational contexts from a multimodal perspective.

This volume presents innovative research on the multimodal dimension of discourse specific to academic settings, with a particular focus on the interaction between the verbal and non-verbal in constructing meaning. Contributions by experienced and emerging researchers provide in-depth analyses in both research and teaching contexts, and consider the ways in which multimodal strategies can be leveraged to enhance the effectiveness of academic communication. Contributors employ both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods, and make use of state-of-the-art software for analyzing multimodal features of discourse. The chapters in the first part of the volume focus on the multimodal features of two key research genres: conference presentations and plenary addresses. In the second part, contributors explore the role of multimodality in the classroom through analyses of both instructors’ and students’ speech, as well as the use of multimodal materials for more effective learning. The research presented in this volume is particularly relevant within the context of globalized higher education, where participants represent a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Multimodal Analysis in Academic Settings contributes to an emerging field of research with importance to an increasing number of academics and practitioners worldwide.

As explored in this open access book, higher education in STEM fields is influenced by many factors, including education research, government and school policies, financial considerations, technology limitations, and acceptance of innovations by faculty and students. In 2018, Drs. Ryoo and Winkelmann explored the opportunities, challenges, and future research initiatives of innovative learning environments (ILEs) in higher education STEM disciplines in their pioneering project: eXploring the Future of Innovative Learning Environments (X-FILEs). Workshop participants evaluated four main ILE categories: personalized and adaptive learning, multimodal learning formats, cross/extended reality (XR), and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This open access book gathers the perspectives expressed during the X-FILEs workshop and its follow-up activities. It is designed to help inform education policy makers, researchers, developers, and practitioners about the adoption and implementation of ILEs in higher education.

This book proposes a relational turn in higher education by conceptualizing knowledge and pedagogy as relational and multimodal, analyzed through three dimensions of relationality: social, technological, and environmental. The volume draws on interdisciplinary approaches that make a case for integrating these interconnected and distinct dimensions in higher education theory and practice. Its novelty lies in combining such a variety of perspectives with Peircean semiotics to explore what it means to learn and live relationally. It emphasizes the importance of critical reflection, rooted in an environmental understanding of knowledge and digital media. This approach integrates materiality, place, and space in higher education, positioning caring, critically reflective and imaginative interactions and interpretations as central for knowledge growth. The volume features practical case studies of relational pedagogy through dialogues with diverse higher education practitioners, which embrace expression and creation through more than one dominant modality of communication and being. The book envisions students and educators as relational agents, with relational awareness and responsibility, aware of their multimodal identities. It highlights how a relational multimodal paradigm can serve as a way forward for universities to address global challenges concerning social, (post)digital, and environmental futures. This innovative book will be of interest to scholars, students, teachers, and policymakers in higher education, semiotics and multimodality, as well as postdigital, sociomaterial and futures studies.

This book aims to provide an overview of theoretical and practical considerations in terms of self-directed multimodal learning within the university context. Multimodal learning is approached in terms of the levels of multimodality and specifically blended learning and the mixing of modes of delivery (contact and distance education). As such, this publication will provide a unique snapshot of multimodal practices within higher education through a self-directed learning epistemological lens. The book covers issues such as what self-directed multimodal learning entails, mapping of specific publications regarding blended learning, blended learning in mathematics, geography, natural science and computer literacy, comparative experiences in distance education as well as situated and culturally appropriate learning in multimodal contexts. This book provides a unique focus on multimodality in terms of learning and delivery within the context of self-directed learning. Therefore, the publication would not only advance the scholarship of blended and open distance learning in South Africa, but also the contribute to enriching the discourse regarding self-direction. From this book readers will get an impression of the latest trends in literature in terms of multimodal self-directed learning in South Africa as well as unique empirical work being done in this regard.

Multimodality in Higher Education theorizes writing practices and pedagogy from a multimodal perspective. It looks at the theoretical and methodological uptake of multimodal approaches in a range of domains in Higher Education, including art and design, architecture, composition studies, science, management accounting and engineering. Changes in the communication landscape have engendered an increasing recognition of the different semiotic dimensions of representation. Student assignments require increasingly complex multimodal competencies and Higher Education needs to be equipped to students with these texts. Multimodality in Higher Education explores the changing communication landscapes in Higher Education in terms of spaces and texts, as well as new processes of production and creativity in the new media.

This book brings together social semiotics, cultural studies, multiliteracies, and other approaches in order to theorize very different learning environments, giving visibility to the modal effect in a range of disciplines. It highlights the ideological nature of discursive practices, examines questions of access, and argues for transformation of these practices, with a constant eye on issues of social justice and equity. Contributors argue that we can harness learners’ representational resources through making these resources visible, and creating less regulated spaces in the curriculum in which they can be used. Examples from primary education through to adult continuing education are used throughout the text.

Looking at both English Medium Instruction (EMI) and multimodality in higher education, this edited volume bridges the gap between the two contexts by offering various new insights into fundamentals in multilingual education, EMI discourse and current teaching practices in internationalised contexts. Current demands in communication, especially in higher-education contexts, require examining EMI from a multimodal perspective with the aim of giving explicit attention to modern discourse practices. The contributors reflect on the principles guiding EMI and multimodality and their application in higher education using both practical examples and data-driven evidences. They discuss EMI multimodal discourse from an empirical perspective to unveil communicative practices in internationalised higher-education contexts; and exemplify classroom applications and ESP and EAP pedagogical practices that promote multimodal competence in higher education. The contributors provide solid theoretical foundations, key principles, research evidence and pedagogical implications that inform current methodologies and practices for EMI, ESP and EAP, as well as multimodality in higher education. This volume on EMI and multimodality in higher education will have broad appeal for researchers worldwide from various fields of expertise within education and applied linguistics.

This volume takes a broad view of multimodality as it applies to a wide range of subject areas, curriculum design, and classroom processes to examine the ways in which multiple modes combine in contemporary classrooms and its subsequent impact on student learning. Grounded in a systemic functional linguistic framework and featuring contributions from scholars across educational and multimodal research, the book begins with a historical overview of multimodality’s place in Western education and then moves to a discussion of the challenges and rewards of integrating multimodal texts and ever-evolving technologies in a variety of settings, include primary, language, music, early childhood, Montessori, and online classrooms. As a state of the art of teaching and learning through different modalities in different educational contexts, this book is an indispensable resource for students and scholars in applied linguistics, multimodality, and language education.

"This book presents practical conversations with philosophical and theoretical concerns regarding the use of digital technologies in the educational process, challenging the assumption that information accessibility is synonymous with learning"--