Dynamic Range is a term in photography that describes the range of tones a medium can record when making an image. While the human eye can see up to 23 stops of light, photographic mediums (film or sensors) can only record between 5 and 12 stops (5 for early digital, 10 for film, and 12 for current digital). While Hurter & Driffield first discovered this constraint in 1876, Ansel Adams was the first to codify the process as the Zone System when he was a teacher in the 1940s. The Zone System is the process that governs how photographers control and capture light; however, the process becomes so internalized that they think with it rather than about it, with some photographers using it without knowing that they are.
When researching how Art and Design university professors support learners with disabilities, Dobson (2021) found that many unintentionally used Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. The professors in the study (n=3) had all taken some UDL professional development and utilized this throughout their teaching without explicitly knowing because it had become part of their practice.
Professors who teach at the college level are frequently subject matter experts with relatively little formal pedagogical education. This project intends to examine how professors can support their professional learning. The following (initial) questions guide this process:
What professional development/learning opportunities are available to faculty at my institution (Algonquin College).
What is the role of knowledge transfer in professional learning?
How can college professors transfer domain knowledge (professional practices) to inform their pedagogy?
How do college professors recontextualize professional learning for their domain-specific context?
If you are interested in the history of sensitometry and the Zone System, below is an interactive H5P tool I built for my students.
Adams, A. (1983). Examples: The making of 40 photographs. Little, Brown.
Dobson, S. C. (2021). One size does not fit all: A case study of art and design faculty perceptions and teaching practices for students with disabilities in studio classes in higher education [Doctoral Disseration, California State University].
Johnson, C. (2017). The practical Zone System for film and digital photography : Classical tool, universal applications (Sixth edition.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315465333