This study investigated the incorporation of student video production into Year 7 science classes and determined associated learning benefits. Availability of digital cameras and movie editing software make student in-class video production a possibility. However, the introduction of technology into classrooms often precedes an understanding of its effective utilisation. While the science classroom was ideal to utilise the audio/visual benefits of video production, a framework to streamline and guide students’ production was needed to ensure productive learning. The writing-to-learn in science model (Prain & Hand, 1996a) and Science Writing Heuristic (Hand & Keys, 1999) were selected to fulfil this role. The adaptation of the writing-to-learn in science model to include video production as a text type coincided with a call from Prain (2006) to extend research to determine the influence of “new technology-mediated, multimodal learning environments” (p. 79) on students’ science learning. Two intact Year 7 classes conducted the same science investigation following the writing-to-learn in science model, one class (Yr 7A, N = 21) used digital video to record and report their findings while the other class (Yr 7B, N = 22) used a traditional method of poster making. Students worked in mixed gender and ability groups of three. Data instruments included pretest, posttest, delayed posttest, a repeated question instruments, and content analysis of the students’ final products. Two groups from each class were video tracked throughout their investigations and were later interviewed. Video data were transcribed and analysed to determine patterns of learning behaviour. This study showed that video production fits comfortably into the writing-to-learn in science framework. Making videos in science delivered learning advantages through the audio/visual nature of video production and the learning behaviours the production process elicited. The nature of video, as a visual and oral medium, allowed students to capture their science investigations accurately and then continue to manipulate the content through reviewing and editing. Through video production, students demonstrated heightened awareness of, and responsibility for, the learning of their audience that led to rehearsal of science concepts before filming. Data analysis revealed that video students collaborated, used higher order thinking, and engaged in the underlying scientific concepts more than the poster makers. This study is significant as it explores in a science classroom context, an emerging technology, already widely utilised in students’ out-of-school lives. Science educators are calling for the broadening of what constitutes a scientific text, the greater inclusion and manipulation of multi-modal representations for science students, and an increased emphasis on socio-communicative approaches to science learning. Additionally, incorporation of technology and associated means of learning, authentic to many students’ out-of-school lives, is advocated for the classroom. Student video production in science answers these calls. It achieves this while delivering unique learning benefits that add significantly to student attainment in science. Video production is playing a greater role in acquisition and dissemination of science knowledge. The use of video production in science and society would seem destined to increase exponentially. This study has investigated one application of the use of video production in a middle years science class, however the implications for further research are vast as the technology develops, the societal usage increases, and the scientific applications of video production become more powerful and widespread.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/283958 |
| Creators | Geoffrey Hilton |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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