Using Visual Tools for Analysis and Learning

This pack is intended as a resource for lecturers and students to facilitate the further development of their learning and teaching strategies. Visual tools were initially introduced within a module of the Year 3 nursing curriculum within the University of Huddersfield by Dr Rob Burton.
Throughout the period of 2007-2008 a small team of lecturers with a keen interest in this teaching and learning strategy engaged in exploring and reviewing the literature. They also attended a series of local workshops held by Oliver Caviglioli, a keen author in relation to visual tools. The use of visual tools as a learning and teaching strategy is now being encouraged within both primary and secondary education. Therefore future students should have some experience of using them. Visual tools have been used as both formative and summative elements of student nurse assessment and are being used creatively within the school. Throughout the duration of this project, aspects of the work have received a positive response at both national and international conferences including HERDSA July 2007, Adelaide, Australia; International Nursing Research Conference, Malaysia March 2008 and Nurse Education Tomorrow (NET) Conference, Cambridge September 2008.
The pack contains information regarding the background, relevant theory and the development of visual tools. It has been designed to introduce you to the principles of using visual tools for analysis and adult learning. The main message is that the tools themselves form a systematic approach to be used in learning and teaching. It contains examples of various visual tools and a series of exercises to support you through the stages of the development of visual tools. It is hoped that this will enable you to develop visual tools within your own field of expertise. Within the pack there are some examples of visual tools, although these are not exhaustive.
We hope that you enjoy the pack and that it inspires you to further explore the wide variety of visual tools and their potential value within adult education.