Designing Think Trails: Using the Multiliteracies Pedagogy to Reshape Academic Knowledge into Clinical Competence

Abstract

This chapter explores an application of the Multiliteracies pedagogical framework to the instance of a medically oriented tertiary level course. The course is a second year level course in Audiology, co-taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, running over a seven-week period. The chapter outlines in detail how the course was structured in terms of both content and pedagogy, using the Multiliteracies framework as an overarching approach. It was felt that this was a particularly useful framework for a course of this nature, as it focuses on contextual issues beyond the immediate objectives of professional training, as well as the critical framing of knowledge. In addition, we outline the particular assessment tasks which were designed to: enhance student flexibility in working with different forms, modes and genres in which information is received and expressed; to promote integration of academic knowledge and the clinical application thereof; and to encourage engagement in multimodal work, with an emphasis on information technology. The responses of both the lecturers and the students to this approach were carefully documented and are presented along with suggestions for other educators working at tertiary level in similar fields, since it is felt that the application of the Multiliteracies pedagogy is particularly useful in these contexts.