Multimodal meaning making and the doctoral dissertation – An exploration of academic forms

Estima, Sonia

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109377 Copy

Description

Title

Multimodal meaning making and the doctoral dissertation – An exploration of academic forms

Author(s)

Estima, Sonia

Issue Date

2020-11-23

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Cope, William

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Cope, William

Committee Member(s)

• Kalantzis, Mary
• Pak, Yoon
• Montebello, Matthew

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• multimodality
• multimodal
• multimodal meaning making
• multimodal research
• alternative dissertation
• multimodal dissertation

Abstract

This study investigates the inclusion and expansion of multimodal research in academic and dissertation writing, exploring how to overcome the challenges and obstacles encountered in the creation of multimodal doctoral dissertations in the field of education. The work starts by looking at multimodality in education in general – trying to understand what is multimodality and its application in the classroom. Next, I look more specifically at the literature related to the use of multimodality in academia and dissertation writing. The literature review reveals a lot of studies on the inclusion of multimodality in K-12 education, and a growing interest in the incorporation of multimodality in college composition classes. However, a gap exists with regards to multimodal scholarship and dissertation writing in particular. The number of successfully defended multimodal dissertations in the field of education is still quite limited and the obstacles preventing the production of multimodal academic work, will be discussed in the findings section of this study. The theoretical foundations of multimodality are explored, with the inclusion of key scholars and concepts that guide the field and drawing from Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development and Freire's Critical Pedagogy. To gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and difficulties in producing a multimodal dissertation, a case study was conducted with four multimodal dissertations successfully defended in the last ten years in the humanities. Analysis of the interviews and additional university data were used to uncover the challenges and obstacles encountered by the study participants and help provide recommendations for future students who wish to produce a multimodal doctoral dissertation. This Dissertation can also be viewed at the website: https://www.soniaestima.com, where the reader can watch the embedded videos side-by-side with the text, without leaving the page.

Graduation Semester

2020-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109377

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Sonia Estima

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