Digital Storytelling for Conceptual Clarity and Reflective Learning in Social Work Research: A Sotl Study

Digital Storytelling and Conceptual Lineage: Reflective Practice and Pre-Research in the First Year social work. The paper investigates the potential of digital storytelling to promote conceptions of clarity and reflection among first-year undergraduate social work students as they prepare for research. Installed at the start of a Research Methods course, the intervention asked students to produce brief multimodal narratives constructed around a social topic of interest. By utilising a qualitative Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) perspective, three types of data were examined: student-produced Digital Stories, short handwritten reflective notes, and rubric-scored evaluations. Four meaning-making processes emerged from thematic analysis: finding the core of an issue through symbolic representation, acknowledging actors and social interactions, displaying reflection and affective insight, and generating initial analytical questions. Patterns were supported by the quantitative rubric scores which showed excellent performance in conceptual clarity and stakeholder representation, moderate evidence of reflective depth and emerging research focus. The paper concludes that digital storytelling is a successful pre-research scaffold for novice researchers, allowing them the opportunity to externalise early understandings before exploring literature and planning methodology. It adds to SoTL by showing how multimodal narrative design assignments render student thinking visible while also providing real evidence of learning. Implications - Implications include the integration of digital storytelling as an adaptive, low-stakes approach to enhance research readiness and support reflective engagement in social work education.