Reflective Digital Storyboarding as a Transformative Assessment Practice: A PALAR Approach in English for Education

Reflective digital storyboarding as a transformative assessment practice: A PALAR approach in English for Education

Matthys Johannes Uys , Carmenita Bansen & Salomé Romylos

Issue: Vol. 7 No. 2 2026 Article 17 pp.267 – 285
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.20267217 Published online 27th March 2026.

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ABSTRACT

The 21st Century demands innovation in assessment and a move away from traditional practices. These innovations may include new methodologies and technologies that can gauge complex skills and lines of reasoning. The purpose of this study is to explore digital storyboarding as a tool for creative, reflexive, and transformative assessment practices. Digital storyboarding entails a process of meaning-making when students understand what they have learned, what was accomplished, what could be improved, and how the process prepared them for the teaching profession. Accordingly, Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory serves as the underlying theory for this study. Additionally, a critical transformative paradigm was used within a Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) design, with final-year students, in-service teachers, and lecturers as participants. Digital storyboards were the data generation method, which formed part of the students’ summative assessment for an English for Education module at a tertiary institution. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results demonstrate that students felt the project was a professional learning curve and assisted them in being more prepared for the teaching profession. Being part of a professional learning community also fostered a sense of belonging and having a voice. This research systematically explores and evidences the impact of digital storyboarding as an alternative assessment method. The findings may be instrumental in improving teaching and learning practices. As teacher educators, we endeavoured to cultivate contemplative engagement, show how it may enhance learning in powerful ways, and contribute to the professional development of students.

Keywords: Assessment Practices, Digital Storyboards, Professional Development, Reflection, Transformative Learning Theory

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AUTHOR(S)

Dr. Matthys Johannes Uys is a Senior Lecturer at North-West University’s School of Languages in Education, where he teaches a number of B.Ed. (English for Education) and B.Ed.Hons. (Language Education) modules – he also supervises M.Ed. students and promotes PhD students. Additionally, he was the programme coordinator for the NWU’s B.Ed. Senior and FET Phase programme, Vanderbijjlpark Campus (2023–2025); he was also a winner of the 2025 Faculty Teaching Award. His research focus is on the inclusion of queer literature and transformative teaching and learning.

Ms Carmenita Bansen is a lecturer in the English for Education subject group at the North-West University. Her Master’s study explored African perspectives in literary texts that form part of pre-service English teachers’ programmes. She is interested in improving initial educator training programmes and community engagement projects that support the upliftment of underdeveloped communities. In addition to this, she is interested in developing literature and language initiatives that contribute towards the establishment of Africanised curricula and promote transformation, equality, and justice.

Prof. Salomé Romylos is an Associate Professor at North-West University’s School of Languages in Education, where she teaches a number of B.Ed. English for Education modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is also the Acting Director of the School for Languages in Education. Her research focus is on the teaching of literature in English and the different perspectives of how texts are made accessible to students, reading and writing as crucial skills, as well as professional identities and the development of students and teachers.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Uys, Matthys Johannes, Carmenita Bansen and Salomé Romylos. “Reflectıve Digital Storyboarding as a Transformative Assessment Practice: A PALAR Approach in English for Education.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 7, no.2 (2026): 267 -285. https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.20267217