Use of Video in Secondary Science Education - Research Paper Example

? Use of Video in Secondary Science Education Introduction Use of video projects in a room environment is one of the most effective ways to ensure that students get the required content (Hart, 2012). This is because it involves a hands-on approach where the students use theory that they have learnt to create their own videos, however the tools that the students use will determine how effective they will be in creating their own videos(Costello, Youngblood & Youngblood, 2012). In addition, the method the teacher uses to handle and plan a multimedia project in class will also determine how effective the learning process will be in ensuring content understanding (Michaud, 2012; and Bus & Neuman, 2009). This paper will therefore look at the most effective and efficient tools that students can use to author multimedia projects as form of formative and summative assessment, the best practices in managing and planning the projects and the rubrics that have been developed, researched and publicised that can be used to evaluate the real academic quality of a student’s multimedia assessment projects. The most efficient tools that students can use in video creation In choosing the most effective video creation tools that students can use, the following factors were put into consideration. One is the user friendliness of the tool where issues like easiness on the eye and navigation and the intuitiveness of the UI (Ivers & Barron, 2010). Second factor that was put in to consideration was the features that the tool contained such as assessment capability or feedback functions, another factor that was put into consideration is the limitations that come with the tools such as whether it is a WYSIWYG tool or it needs a programming nous. iMovie imovie is a video editing software that is sold by Apple inc company for Mac and iOS which include iphone, ipad, ipad mini and ipod touch that was originally launched in the market in the year 1999 (Laybourne, 2009). Since 2005, imovie was designed to process high definition video from HDV camcorders and other versions of camcorders such as AVCHD camcorders and H.264 compressed video from MPEG4, to support this, the tool has undergone metamorphosis to ensure smooth integration especially with apple products. imovie HD 5 included support for HDV, which includes the 720p and 1080i, in addition, it also supported the integration with ilife suite and toolbox buttons that allow importation of images from iphoto and music from itunes. The HD 6 version, which was released in 2006 included support for iphotos, itunes, iDVD , garageband and iweb, this version was aimed at making the imovie more user-friendly as it included themes that allowed the user to drag and drop movies and photos in backdrops. The imovie 08 was an improvement of the previous versions of imovie as it contained better HD output and more formats in which files could be converted to. This edition however received criticism since it completely abandoned the earlier versions of imovie and features such as slow motion, fast motion, black and white options had been removed, in addition, imovie 08 could not support more than one project at a time. The imovie 09 was basically a response to the criticism the ’08 version as it restored features that the previous versions had, in addition, it also simplified some more advanced tasks such as picture to picture and chroma keying. The imovie 11 had the capability of making movie trailers, gave the user more power over the audio option, allowed immediate rerun, flash, and hold effects, new theme, face detection and the potential to watch videos on apple products. with the unveiling of the iphone, which was designed to support iOS, the apple company designed an imovie app that would be compatible with the iOS since the other products of the company were also designed to support the iOS (Maci?as, Granollers & Latorre, 2009). Animoto Animoto is an online video editing software that is easy to use among the students, a key feature of the animoto video and slideshow is the quality of the videos that the software produces in addition to the user friendliness of its interphase (Mobimedia 2010, Rodriguez, Tafazolli & Verikoukis, 2012). Creation of the animoto video and slideshow creating software was inspired by the low quality of videos in the internet. Some of the features of this software include high definition video quality of up to 720p, in its Facebook app, it contains the share tag and like buttons. In addition, animoto also allows its users to access a large library containing a large number of music files of all genres, which is limited to a 1000 music files with the open version and further expanded to 2000 in the commercial version. Best practises in planning and managing multimedia project in class The first step in conducting a multi media project is making a project plan, which will guide how the whole project will be conducted. The plan should contain goals, timeline for the project, elements of the projects and deadlines within which to achieve various tasks in the project (Mayer, 2009). The goals for a multimedia project should be issues like educating readers on a different level about a familiar issue, is there breaking news that you would like the readers to help you collect information on, among other issues. The goals should be clear and precise while being simple, it is recommended that the goals should not be more than three per project (Vaughan, 2011). The story of the project is another area in a multimedia project that should be included, this is the overall narrative of the project and to make sure all the elements of the project follow the right path, a student should write a paragraph or write down the talking points. Project elements with deadlines should also be included, this is how each element is categorised, for instance, what are the platforms tools that will be used for instance, photos, video, documents or Flickr among others, use of many elements is encouraged as it will give the students more exposure to the different requirements of each element (Lachs, 2013). In order to ensure that a teacher in a multimedia class is effective, a rubric that ensures all aspects of the project have been fulfilled need to be designed (Fernandes, Horat, Wild & Subirats, 2009). In the rubric, problem and hypothesis of the project should be clearly stated, the problem should be new and meaningful in the field of multimedia, in addition, the hypothesis should be clearly stated, this is important as it will guide the direction of the project including the variables and the controls that will be used in the project. An ideal rubric should also test how the student has fared in conducting a background study of the project that he has undertaken; the background study should be specific and clearly explained with examples (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012). In addition, the rubric should be able to test how the student has grasped the materials and the procedure involved in the creating the project, this should include whether the procedure that has been followed will lead to the expected results. In addition the rubric should gauge whether the steps involved in the project are clearly stated and outlined in the order they are supposed to follow, safety issues concerning the project should also be addressed (Koumi, 2006). Still on the rubric, the variables and controls that the project used should be clearly identified, the controls should also be appropriate to the project and they should be explained, this would make the student understand how to conduct the project with minimal errors and without attributing the results to the wrong variables. Rubrics to evaluate the academic quality of a student’s project EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR BELOW AVERAGE POOR Problem and Hypothesis Problem is new, meaningful, well researched; Hypothesis is clearly stated in the "IF... THEN" format Problem is meaningful, and well researched; Hypothesis is clearly Stated Problem is addressed and researched; Hypothesis is stated Problem is somewhat addressed and somewhat researched; Hypothesis is unclear Problem is not stated and research is unclear; Hypothesis is not stated Background Research Research is thorough, specific, has many examples; All ideas are clearly explained; History, biology, and pros and cons are fully addressed Research has many specifics and some examples Most ideas are explained; Student mostly addresses the history, biology, and pros and cons Research has some specifics and a couple examples; Few ideas are explained; Student doesn’t address all areas: history, biology, and pros and cons Research has little specifics and one example; Two or less ideas are explained; Student doesn’t address all areas: history, biology, and pros and cons Research has no specifics and one example; No ideas are explained; Student doesn’t address all areas: history, biology, and pros and cons Experimental Design/ Materials/ Procedure Procedure is detailed, appropriate, thorough; Steps of procedure are listed and sequential, all materials are listed; Safety issues have been addressed Procedure is appropriate, thorough; Steps of procedure are listed and mostly sequential, most materials are listed; Safety issues may have been addressed Procedure is appropriate; Steps of procedure are mostly listed; Most materials are listed; Safety issues were not addressed Procedure is inadequate; Steps of procedure are mostly listed; Few materials are listed; Safety issues were not addressed Procedure is inadequate; A few steps of procedure are listed; No materials are listed; Safety issues were not addressed Variables/Controls/ Sample size Variables have been identified, controls are appropriate, in place, and explained; Sample size is appropriate and explained Variables have been identified, controls are appropriate and in place; Sample size is appropriate Variables have somewhat been identified, controls are somewhat known; Sample size is not appropriate Missing one variable or control; Sample size is not considered Missing two or more of the variables or the controls; Sample size is not considered (Lantz, 2004). Conclusion The five of the most effective and efficient tools that have been identified to help students create videos include imovie and animoto. These tools were selected due to their use friendliness and the features contained in those tools. These use of these tools to give the most optimal multimedia quality helps define the best practises in planning and managing multimedia projects that include creating a project plan and content, and in addition the designing of a rubric that will ensure use of the tools in classrooms will fulfil the learning objectives. However, the success of using multimedia softwares and applications in a high school class will depend on the instructor’s knowledge of the multimedia applications that he uses to teach. References Bus, A. G., & Neuman, S. B. (2009). Multimedia and literacy development: Improving achievement for young learners. New York, NY: Routledge. Costello, V., Youngblood, S. A., & Youngblood, N. (2012). 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Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Vaughan, T. (2011). Multimedia: Making it work. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More