Double Vision: Using Photo Voice and Narrative to Uncover the Meaning of Undergraduate Students' Study Abroad Experience

Study abroad programs in nursing have gained popularity as the necessity to foster cultural sensitivity and global awareness becomes even more critical to providing care to our growing diverse populations.

In short-term immersion courses, faculty are challenged to transform the passive learner into an active participant in the cultural experience so that meaning can be derived from each cultural encounter. During a short term study abroad course traveling to Croatia, faculty sought to engage students through the use of photo voice and reflective journaling. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of global diversity through the lens of the undergraduate student. While perceptions of students’ global experiences have been explored, few studies have used a multi-method approach to uncover meaning in the students’ experiences. Further, the use of photo voice as both a reflective teaching strategy and research method have not been previously employed.

Fifteen undergraduate nursing students participated in an 11-day immersion experience. The post-travel course assignment required students to reflect on the meaning of their international experience through the use of photos and narrative. Prior to travel, students were assured access to personal cameras and directions for completing the assignment. True to photo voice methodology, students were given six prompts to stimulate their exploration of the Croatian culture. Students were directed to photograph exemplars of nursing education, healthcare, cultural practices, cultural influences on health, spirituality, and culture shock.  Students in this course submitted nearly 450 photographs with corresponding narratives describing the meaning of their experiences. Data analysis using a modification of Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenologic hermeneutical method is currently in progress. Both photographs and narratives provide a rich source of data. Scientific rigor will be maintained using Guba and Lincoln’s (1981; 1989) criteria for judging the quality of the evaluation, including auditability, credibility, and fittingness.