Preston Adams asked:
> Over the past 10 years or so, I have amassed a collection of NOVA,
>NATURE, DISCOVER and other natural history videos. I use them in my
>intro to plant biology class, and in my human evolution class. However,
>I often have the feeling that I may not be using them to maximize
>learning by my students. Does anyone have any experience with videos
>in terms of getting the students to NOT regard them as mere entertainment
>but as a "cheap" way to bring well-known biologists and anthropologists
>into the classroom? Any ideas on using videos to promote interactive and
>cooperative learning?
> Preston Adams
> Dept of Biological Sciences
> DePauw University
> Greencastle, IN 46135
Preston,
I've not used videos in this way and I'm sure you have already thought of
this solution but here it is anyway:
Divide the class into teams and ask them to view and analyze two (three?
four?) of the videos and analyze what they see. You (preferably they)
could choose which videos to compare and the basis for comparison. For
example, 1) female scientists vs male scientists, 2) zoologists vs
microbiologists vs botanists etc, 3) molecular vs organismal vs ecological,
etc. In other words, analyze not just any videos but pick them with some
purpose.
The analysis could be designed by you or by the student teams but would
look at each scientist in terms of 1) why they are interested in the
problem, 2) their training, 3) the nature of their activity on a day-to-day
basis (lab, outdoors, etc.), 4) how they get paid for what they do
(university, government agency, industry, grants, etc., 5) skills required
(acquired in grad school vs lifelong), 6) technology employed, 7) how their
work has evolved from simple to complex, from organism to cell to molecule,
from organism to ecological, etc., 8) how well and by what methods do they
communicate their results, etc. This list might change depending on the
nature and scope of the analysis.
You might also let them experiment with different ways of reporting the
results of their studies: 1) simply turning in a comparison sheet or
written report to you, 2) making an oral report to the class, perhaps
including excerpts from the tapes, 3) if you have the video capture
hardware, inserting clips into presentation software like PowerPoint or
Persuasion and then sharing with the class, 4) putting their findings on a
web page, etc. In any case, I think they would learn a lot about the
process of science as well as the biological content of the scientists'
work.
Dr. David W. Kramer
Department of Plant Biology
Ohio State University at Mansfield
1680 University Drive
Mansfield, OH 44906
(419) 755-4344 FAX: (419) 755-4367
e-mail: kramer.8 at osu.edu
