Purposeful Use of Film within the Classroom:

Encouraging Student Engagement

Presented by Mandy Latz27 February 2009

3rd Annual Learning College Conference, Ivy Tech Community College

Presentation Agenda

Overview of film use inside classrooms Items to consider Examples in a variety disciplines Think-Pair-Share Activity

Why this topic?

My own in-class film use Integration of film via Blackboard

discussions Need to articulate rationale Student feedback Better than me

Advocacy for Film Use

Meets students where they are Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Brings course concepts to life Variation in messenger Provides a common experience to draw from Leads well into various learning activities and

assignments

Quotation

“…instructors must learn, and in turn teach their students, how to make

movie viewing a meaningful and active educational

experience” (Sprau, 2001, para. 10).

Purposeful Use

Why are you showing the film? What is the purpose?

What learning outcomes are associated with the film?

How will you measure the intended outcomes? Link film use with activity, assignment,

discussion, etc. Integrate film with course content

Quotation

“…film in educational settings is often relegated to

filler material for overworked, underprepared,

or absent instructors” (Sprau, 2001, para. 10).

Considerations in Selection

Documentary versus fiction

Full length versus clips Length of class Method of presentation

Documentary versus Fiction

Hollywood movies Novel and appealing to students Easy to find Students may perceive fiction as reality

Documentaries May be hard to find Closer to reality but may be historically or

politically bias Should be viewed critically

Quotation

“One of the dangers of using feature film is that students often confuse what they see in it with

the truth or attribute to a film the factual characteristics of a documentary. Although most

films are not documentaries, they can carry great emotional power while delivering truths that reality obscures, as has been said about

fiction. This emotional power can be a catalyst for thinking and learning. It is important to

remember, however, that films are a starting point, not an end in themselves” (Harper &

Rogers, 1999, para. 5).

Examples of Learning Activities

Historical fiction Popular Is it accurate?

Feature films in the psychology classroom Diagnosis, identification

Rewriting the documentary from a different perspective

Specific Examples of Films

Full Length versus Clips

Consider the class time you have Consider the actual full length of the film Watching the whole film may be boring Clips can overcome lack of class time to show

entire film Clips can be extracted to display particular

character, scene, or concept Clips can be difficult to manage Go back to the overarching purpose of showing

the piece YouTube, Google Video, other websites (PBS)

Crafting Learning Activities

Some questions to consider… What are you trying to achieve (in terms of

student learning) by showing film? How can you “stretch” your students? How can you help them to think critically? How can you enable them to use a variety of

skills (writing, speaking, building)? How can you help students enjoy the

process?

Using the New Bloom’s

Building on remembering and understanding

Enabling students to create

Using Kolb’s Cycle

Moving from concrete experience (watching) to active experimentation (creating a new film)

Quotation

“…an instructor, in selecting learning activities to correspond with each of the four poles of the experiential learning model, must give greater consideration to the functional use of the activity than to the activity itself” (Svinicki &

Dixon, 1987, p. 144).

Personal Example from ANTH 154

The Observation Exercise

Think-Pair-Share

How have you used films in your classrooms in the past?

What types of learning activities have you linked with film viewing in the past?

Brainstorm a new use of film within a class you are currently teaching Create a short list of films to use Create a learning activity for students that

blends the film and your course content. Can you describe your activity in terms of the

New Bloom’s or Kolb’s Cycle?

References

Harper, R. E., & Rogers, L. E. (1999). Using feature films to teach human development concepts [Electronic version]. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 38(2).

Sprau, R. (2001). I saw it in the movies: Suggestions for incorporating film and experiential learning in the college history survey course [Electronic version]. College Student Journal, 35(1).

Svinicki, M. D., & Dixon, N. M. (1987). The Kolb model modified for classroom activities. College Teaching, 35(4), 141-146.

I appreciate your attendance!