Page 20 - Spring 2016 Newsletter

Teacher’s Corner: Using Visual Thinking Strategies

(VTS) for Critical Thinking and Content Engagement

John Coumbe-Lilley, PhD, CC-AASP, CSCS, University of Illinois at Chicago

A common complaint from faculty is an evidence-based content engagement approach utilizing image

and students is that their classrooms (art), Socratic questioning, and meaningful content to help students

are quiet, unengaged places where make lasting relationship with the ield of study.

instructors see students disengaged
VTS was developed
and students see faculty as remote from
from research and
them. Faculty are motivated to develop

critical thinking skills in their students to practice conducted

help them become active and informed by VTS co-founder

Abigail Hausen, EdD
citizens. They also desire for their
and Philip Yenawine
students to engage in discourse and
(Yenawine, 2014), and
John
discussion to challenge information,
is deined as a method
facts, opinions, and perspectives. To
COUMBE-
of teacher initiated
achieve these goals, faculty can borrow

facilitated discussion
LILLEY
practices from museum education that

of art images. The
uses art and image to provoke a positive
method uses facilitated
learning interaction focused on content,
individual relection
critical discourse, and engagement.
and group problem

solving to resolve
The ield of sport and exercise psychology is rich with images of

challenging content
dramas, tragedies, victory, emotions, and performance. The context

concepts through
of sport creates the opportunity for sport images to be used to engage

open and shared oral communication that is triggered by a still image. the scholar and fan alike in the experience of the scene. Still, art

The semi-structured facilitated process helps students identify what images convey a moment captured in time never to be repeated.

they do and do not know. Discourse reveals strengths and gaps in Images can instruct us as well as encourage us to empathize, to be

learning. The process and outcomes of the discourse may be used outraged, or to draw inferences, connections, and relate personal

as a classroom assessment technique (CAT; readers are referred to a experience and understanding with scholarly work. To help faculty

summary paper describing VTS by Landorf, 2006).
create a vibrant and volitional learning environment that promotes

autonomy, relatedness, and competency, the use of Visual Thinking
The basic VTS facilitation process is outlined below. This outline and
Strategies (VTS) is recommended (Reilly, Ring & Duke, 2005;
more information can be found at the online home of VTS - www.

vtshome.org.
Naghshineh, Haler, Miller, Blanco, Lipsitz, Dubroff, & Katz, 2008). VTS

AASP Newsletter // Spring 2016 // Teacher’s Corner: Using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) for Critical Thinking and Content Engagement

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