Faces of Learning

During the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, a group of SJSU undergraduate student researchers met with students across campus to get a deeper understanding of their learning experiences and then utilized photography and narrative to shine a light on those students' learning experiences.  

• Watch the student researcher panel above to learn from those who were most involved in this project.

• View the student-curated exhibition below and share your learning story with us to add to the Faces of Learning project.

View the Student-Curated Exhibition

Faces of Learning Episode 1

Meet some of the project's Co-researchers - Leeza Xiong, Edith Urbano, and Isabel Rangel Hernandez - as they begin to delve into the art of interviewing to gather learning stories from peers and utilizing photography to communicate those stories.  Project Coordinator Briettny Curtner tells us where she sees the project heading and how she hopes it will change the student narrative on campus.

Faces of Learning Episode 2

In Episode 2, we check in with some of the student co-researchers - Edith Urbano, Isabel Rangel Hernandez, and Alberto Camacho - to see what their experiences have been like after meeting with several student participants and what they have left to accomplish to curate their exhibition.

Meet the Project's Student Co-Researchers

• Alberto Camacho

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    - Name: Alberto Camacho
    - Pronouns: El/He/Him/His
    - Year and Major / Minor: Graduating 4th year / English Major -- Chicana/o Studies Minor
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: I dance Folkloriko with Grupo Luna y Sol de San José. -- I love to write!
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? I firmly believe in the power of testimonio as a form of teaching. Testimonio brings in an entirely different perspective to the classroom by creating a community; similarly this project allows for Spartans to share their experience at SJSU and through Testimonio, create an even more welcoming community here on campus.

• Dalia Hernandez

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    - Name: Dalia Hernandez
    - Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
    - Year and Major / Minor: Senior, Behavioral Science major, Applied
    Computing for Behavioral and Social Science (ACBSS) minor
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: Fun fact is that I visited two new states last year which were Tennessee and New York.
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? What motivated me was an eagerness to gain research experience and participate in advocating for student voices. This project gave me the chance to learn about different perspectives that each student has and gave me a chance to capture and share it.

• Edith Urbano

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    - Name: Edith Urbano Ixta
    - Pronouns: she/her
    - Year and Major / Minor: Child and Adolescent Development major,  Sociology of Education minor
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: Fun fact: I am left-handed. Hobby: I love going thrifting with my friends. 
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? I was motivated to be part of this project to bring the stories of students to life and put faces to the statistics that come from the school.

• Eliana Villafuerte

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    - Name: Eliana Villafuerte
    - Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
    - Year and Major / Minor: 4th year, Linguistics major, Chicana/o Studies minor
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: I love doing my makeup, and experimenting with different color eyeshadows
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? I really wanted to experience being in a research team. While also being part of a cause to help spread and let others around the community hear student voices.

• Isabel Rangel Hernandez

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    - Name: Isabel Rangel Hernandez
    - Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
    - Year and Major / Minor: 5th year, Child and Adolescent Development with a Preparation into teaching major
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: I’ve been dancing Folklorico for over 10 years.
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? I learned the process of conducting qualitative research: learning how to be respectful and authentic to my friends who are also the participant and how to honor their narrative and their experience.

• Octavio Martinez

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    - Name: Octavio Martinez
    - Year and Major / Minor: Senior, Design Studies major, Human Systems Integration minor
    - Hobby: A fun hobby that I like to partake in is Muay-Thai fighting
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? I love getting to know people and understanding what makes them function the
    way they do. What at their core makes them, them. This project opens the opportunity for that.

Meet the Project Coordinator

• Briettny Curtner

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    - Name: Briettny Curtner
    - Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
    - Year and Major / Minor: Second Year, Graduate Student / Education, Counseling and Student Personnel
    - Fun Fact / Hobby: I have been to 13 states!
    - What motivated you to participate in this project? This project was my first hands-on experience with qualitative research. It provided the opportunity for me to support students, learn a methodology, and curate authentic representation of each Spartan who shared their learning story with us.

Share Your Learning Story

We would love to include your learning story in our Faces of Learning Initiative!  Please complete the form below so that we can add it to our webpage.  Here are some questions you can consider when sharing your story with us:

• What did you expect to learn at SJSU? Have your learning experiences at SJSU been what you expected? If not, how have they different?
• What are the learning “bright spots” that you’ve experienced at SJSU?
• What advice would you give about learning at SJSU? To your peers? To your professors? To your younger self?
• What is the most important thing you’ve learned at SJSU?