Capturing Student Transformation From a Global Service-Learning Experience: The Efficacy of Photo-Elicitation as a Qualitative Research Method.

This article describes the use of photo-elicitation as a qualitative research method that captured transformational outcomes of baccalaureate nursing students who participated in a 10-day global service-learning experience in Nicaragua.All participants (N = 8) took photographs as a natural way of capturing moments, scenes, and events that occurred during their immersion experience. Four weeks after the trip, each student selected photographs that were a meaningful visual representation of their experience and participated in a semistructured interview conducted by one of the three faculty investigators.Photo-elicitation captured the cultural, professional, and personal transformations of the students through a process that included "letting go," "confronting reality," and "coming to an understanding."The use of photo-elicitation as a qualitative research method enabled a deeper, more poignant exploration of the impact of a global service-learning experience.