Scientists talking to students through videos

Junjun CHEN, Bronwen COWIE

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The benefits of connecting school students with scientists are well documented. This paper reports how New Zealand teachers brought scientists into the classrooms through the use of videos of New Zealand scientists talking about themselves and their research. Two researchers observed lessons in 9 different classrooms in which 23 educational videos were shown to students from years 2 to 11 (aged 6–17 years). Seven groups of primary students and 4 groups of secondary students participated in interviews after classroom observations. Eight additional secondary teachers participated in 7 focus group discussions; 4 additional primary teachers participated in 1 focus group discussion. Data were analysed thematically using an inductive approach. This analysis uncovered 4 major functions for the use of videos of scientists talking about their work: bringing scientists into the classroom, scientists talking about science with local relevance, scientists explaining concepts using a multitude of modes and scientists as authentic alternative authorities within the classroom. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that the use of video clips of scientists talking about their work can be an effective and efficient way of engaging students in learning about science and scientists. Copyright © 2013 National Science Council, Taiwan.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)445-465
JournalInternational Journal of Science and Mathematics Education
Volume12
Issue number2
Early online dateApr 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Citation

Chen, J., & Cowie, B. (2014). Scientists talking to students through videos. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12(2), 445-465.

Keywords

  • Classroom research
  • Educational technology
  • Image of scientist
  • Science education
  • Video

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Scientists talking to students through videos'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.