Dr Mauricio Marrone and Dr Murray Taylor from Macquarie University’s Faculty of Business and Economics will soon be visiting UTS to tell us about their experiences in using digital storytelling for Accounting and Marketing students. Leading up to their session at UTS Business, we asked them to give us a preview of what they’ll be covering.
For those who are new to the term, what does digital storytelling involve?
Digital storytelling (DST) for us is the mix of technology to tell stories. In our case, we used videos and metaphors to help our stories be memorable.
How did this methodology fit with the existing accounting learning material – was it a natural fit?
I think metaphors and videos that are tailored for a unit are an underused tool in Accounting. In our paper we compare a course in Marketing with one from Accounting and noticed that the Accounting students perceived the greatest benefits from using DST in the lecture.
What are a few ways in which students benefit from this way of learning?
In our paper we wrote:
“Greater increases in student engagement are found for accounting students than a comparison cohort of management students. The main contribution of this paper is in using conceptual metaphor theory to create a new understanding of student engagement regarding rich metaphors becoming cognitively aligned with accounting concepts.”
You can read further insights in our paper, Digital storytelling and visual metaphor in lectures: a study of student engagement.
What can learning and teaching practitioners gain from exploring this approach?
For me, the biggest learning from a student evaluation perspective (student feedback surveys known as LETs and LEUs at MQ) is that students truly appreciate the efforts of academics to engage the students. I got so many comments and thank you’s in the LETs and even students telling me that they saw the effects I put in and felt compelled to put in the same effort.
Keen to hear more about how you can use digital storytelling in your subject? Don’t miss the upcoming session, register on Futures below!
Digital Storytelling and Active Learning in Business Lectures