Meaning representation in video outcomes of inquiry project

As student assignments and assessment evolve to keep pace with the technological developments, students have the opportunity to express their knowledge in a wider range of forms. The current study aims to examine the meaning representation in videos produced by secondary school students as part of a non-written inquiry project. The content of the video outcomes in the inquiry project, student interviews, and reflection essays written by the six participating students who were of different academic achievement levels were analyzed to better understand their meaning representation using videos. Five types of literacies used by the students in their video outcomes for meaning representation were identified: text, action, narration, cinematography and acoustics. The findings also showed that there were three types of meaning representations with different characteristics: drama, documentary and photo story. The components identified to be required for meaning representation in video were attitude towards video representation, choice of inquiry topic, organizational skills, and data management. The findings informed us of the possibility of diversified use of literacies for meaning representation in different genres of videos. The findings also alerted us of the need to equip students with necessary attitude and skills for better meaning representation. Nevertheless, the need to support learners to present meanings well with videos is suggested. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.