The paper describes and reflects the journey of a lecturer into pedagogical transformation in a visual communication course for first-generation undergraduate students at an academic college, within the School of Communication in Israel. The goal of the course is to develop visual thinking and understanding, to comprehend the complexity that can be created in a visual message, to improve the ability to read visual messages, and to create visual messages independently. To this end, the course covered diverse fields such as advertisements, photographs, films, music videos, websites, and paintings, understanding that all these are based on a multi-layered history of visual culture. The idea was to combine theoretical study with practical application.

This study employs Educational Action Research (EAR) which applies the concepts and practices of action research (Lewin 1946; Feldman et al. 2018) to the context of education, so most educational action researchers are teachers (including lecturers in higher education). As a genre of action research, EAR recognizes both the uncertainty around the nature and extent of action (that needs to be undertaken in complex situations) and the general precariousness of conceptions of value. Researchers therefore need to engage in ongoing reflection on their actions and understandings, to inform further planning, action and understanding. Through this cyclical process, educational action researchers produce contributions to both conceptual and practical knowledge of education (Rauch, Zehetmeier & Posch 2019).

Furthermore, by integrating creative and artistic tasks as a core part of the inquiry, the study aligns with the Art-Based Action Research (ABAR) framework developed by Jokela and Huhmarniemi (2018), Hughes (2019), Har-Gil (1998). This study is grounded in the methodology of Action Research.

The primary objective of this study is to document and analyze a systematic process of pedagogical change aimed at improving student engagement and satisfaction. Specifically, the research seeks to:

A. Identify the gaps between traditional frontal teaching methods and the cognitive/cultural characteristics of contemporary first-generation students from peripheral regions.

B. Transform a lecture-based curriculum into a dialogical, interactive learning environment that accommodates limited attention spans and diverse cultural backgrounds.

C. Evaluate the effectiveness of "Critical Friend" and student-centered feedback loops in driving instructional redesign.

The lecturer was guided by the following research question: How can a structured, multi-layered Action Research process - incorporating personal reflection, critical friendship, and student feedback - facilitate the adaptation of teaching practices to meet the evolving needs and learning patterns of "new" undergraduate students in a digital-social media era?

The research was conducted over a period of three academic semesters, positioning the classroom as a living laboratory for pedagogical inquiry. By adopting this qualitative approach, the researcher moved beyond traditional instruction to systematically investigate and address the shifting learning patterns of "new" undergraduate students. To ensure the validity and depth of the findings, a multi-layered triangulation of data sources was utilized: Self-Reflection and Documentation: The lecturer maintained systematic personal reflections throughout the process. These records captured immediate pedagogical dilemmas, instructional decisions, and the emotional landscape of the teaching experience. Critical Friendship: A unique pillar of this methodology was the involvement of a "Critical Friend, who was present in all class sessions. This role provided an external yet deeply contextualized perspective. Immediately following each lesson, structured debriefing sessions were held, resulting in verbatim written records that documented classroom interactions and provided critical feedback on the teaching process. Student Voice (Qualitative and Quantitative): Student perspectives were integrated through weekly open-ended written reflections, allowing for a continuous pulse-check on their lived experiences and difficulties. This was complemented by periodic anonymous questionnaires designed to measure broader patterns of engagement, satisfaction, and perceived learning outcomes. External Analytical Support: The process was further validated by the involvement of an external researcher, who assisted in framing the reflective data within broader AR theoretical constructions and supported the objective interpretation of findings. The analysis followed a qualitative thematic approach, where verbatim records of post-class discussions, self-reflective journals, and student feedback were coded to identify recurring pedagogical challenges and successes. This rigorous, collaborative reflection allowed the researchers to recognize "moments of regression" not as failures, but as essential data points within the action-reflection cycle, leading to the eventual redesign of the course into a more dialogical and interactive learning environment.

The findings of this Action Research process indicate a strong and consistent relationship between structured pedagogical reflection and enhanced student engagement, particularly among first-generation undergraduate students from peripheral backgrounds. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that traditional lecture-based instruction was increasingly misaligned with students’ contemporary cognitive habits, attention patterns, and learning expectations. A significant finding was the critical contribution of continuous, multi-layered student feedback to pedagogical improvement. Feedback channels enabled ongoing calibration of teaching practices, allowing the lecturer to maintain a constant “finger on the pulse” of what was effective and what required adjustment. The sustained involvement of a critical friend, present in every class session over more than one academic year, emerged as one of the most influential elements of the process. Regular post-lesson reflective dialogues - documented verbatim - supported both incremental improvements and more substantial pedagogical redesigns. Importantly, the process legitimized experimentation, including the trial of innovative practices that were later abandoned when found ineffective. The analysis demonstrated that recognizing moments of regression as inherent to the Action Research cycle reduced frustration and prevented burnout. Rather than signaling failure, such moments functioned as productive data points that informed subsequent planning and action. This reframing fostered long-term pedagogical adaptability and sustained motivation for improvement. This study concludes that in an era characterized by rapid technological, cultural, and social change, teaching practices cannot remain static. For lecturers working with first-generation and peripheral student populations, pedagogical transformation is not merely a methodological choice, but an ethical responsibility. At the same time, the study emphasizes that these conclusions are context-dependent. The specific instructional solutions identified here emerged from the interaction between a particular lecturer, a specific student population, and a defined institutional and cultural setting. Teaching practices will necessarily vary according to lecturers’ personal characteristics, disciplinary cultures, and local norms.

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