Regarding the question of Preston Adams:
I have used videos early in my first term freshman biology to accomplish
two goals: teach students to make better observations, and teach them to
take notes. To do this, I play a segment with the sound off and have
them record what they observe. Then they contribute to a set of
observations from the class by class participation and we sort out what
are true observations and what are interpretations. For one of the
exercises, I usually have them turn in their notes before any discussion
and then comment on them and give them a set of my own observations for
comparison. We also replay the film and listen to what David Attenborough
says about the organisms as it does its thing. The result is that my students
take more notes on films
than they do on my lectures. That makes films more useful the rest of
the term when they are not on behavior, and I use lots of videos. We also use
them as a basis of discussion, and sometimes for
group discussion to answer questions. I also pose questions before the
film starts.
Janice
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Janice M. Glime, Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
jmglime at mtu.edu
906-487-2546
FAX 906-487-3167
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