Digital media assignments in undergraduate science education: an evidence-based approach
Keywords:
Learner-generated digital media, digital media assignments, multimedia assignments, science education, assessment design
Abstract
Digital media assignments empower students to become co-creators of knowledge rather than passive consumers of content. The Internet explosion and the affordability of digital technologies and devices such as smartphones, tablets and action cameras have created opportunities to use digital media in the classroom. This article aims to present an evidence-based approach to help educators to design, implement and evaluate digital media assignments in the classroom. For this purpose, four theoretical models were tested to inform the design of digital media assignments in undergraduate science education. These models helped to identify the student training in digital media needed, develop effective marking rubrics, and inform the design, implementation and evaluation of digital media assessment tasks. Trials were conducted in Spring 2016 (n = 458) and Autumn 2017 (n = 1329), respectively. Data collection used a mixed-methods approach, including a qualitative survey, open-ended questions, group contribution data and marks attained. Data analysis showed positive outcomes of the systematic implementation of digital media assignments. In conclusion, students enjoyed the support they received, being creative, working in groups and learning with digital media. To date, this intervention is one of the most comprehensive and practical approaches to digital media assignments in the classroom, which has been undertaken.
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References
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Kearney, M. (2009) ‘Towards a learning design for student-generated digital storytelling’, in The Future of Learning Design Conference, University of Wollongong, New South Wales. https://ro.uow.edu.au/fld/09/Program/4
Kearney, M. & Schuck, S. (2003) ‘Focus on pedagogy: the use of digital video and iMovie in K-12 schools’, in Apple University Consortium Conference, Apple Computer Australia, Sydney.
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Malamed, C. (2015) Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. doi: 10.1002/9781119153801
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Mayer, R. E. (2008) ‘Applying the science of learning: evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction’, American Psychologist, vol. 63, no. 8, p 760. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.63.8.760
Morel, G. & Keahey, H. (2016) ‘Student-generated multimedia projects as a multidimensional assessment method in a health information management graduate program’, in Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, eds G. Chamblee & L. Langub, Savannah, GA, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), pp. 1120–1125, 27th of January 2021. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/171830/
Musburger, R. B. & Kindem, G. (2012) Introduction to Media Production: The Path to Digital Media Production, Focal Press, Burlington, MA. doi: 10.4324/9780080509310
Nielsen, W., Hoban, G. & Hyland, C. (2017) ‘Pharmacology students’ perceptions of creating multimodal digital explanations’, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 329–339. doi: 10.1039/C6RP00244G
Ohler, J. (2009) ‘New-media literacies’, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/article/new-media-literacies?wbc_purpose=Basic%23sidebar%23main%3FPF%3D1#.YBHdbegzYuU
Ohler, J. (2013) Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity, Corwin Press. doi: 10.4135/9781452277479
Pearce, K. L. (2014) ‘Undergraduate creators of video, animations and blended media: the students’ perspective’, Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (formerly UniServe Science Conference), Sydney, Australia, pp. 156–162.
Pearce, K. L. & Vanderlelie, J. J. (2016) ‘Teaching and evaluating graduate attributes in multimedia science-based assessment task’, Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, The University of Queensland, Australia, Brisbane, QLD, pp. 215–225.
Pirhonen, J. & Rasi, P. (2016) ‘Student-generated instructional videos facilitate learning through positive emotions’, Journal of Biological Education, pp. 1–13. doi: 10.1080/00219266.2016.1200647
Potter, J. & McDougall, J. (2017) Digital Media, Culture and Education: Theorising Third Space Literacies, Springer, London. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55315-7
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. 2017a. ‘A taxonomy of digital media types for Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments’, E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 309–322.
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. 2018a. ‘A Methodological Approach to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments in Science Education’, EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2018. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. C. 2018b. ‘A framework for digital media literacies for teaching and learning in higher education’, E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 176–190.
Reyna, J., Hanham, J., Vlachopoulos, P. & Meier, P. 2019. ‘A Systematic Approach to Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments and Its Effect on Self-regulation in Tertiary Science Education’, Research in Science Education.
Reyna, J., Horgan, F., Ramp, D. & Meier, P. 2017b. ‘Using Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) as an Assessment Tool in Geological Sciences’, The 11th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference, INTED2017. INTED, Valencia (Spain), 6th-8th of March 2017.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018a. ‘Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) as an Assessment Tool in Tertiary Science Education: A Review of Literature’, The IAFOR Journal of Education, vol. 93.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018b. ‘A practical model for implementing digital media assessments in tertiary science education’, American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 27–31.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018c. ‘Using the Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) framework in tertiary science education: A Pilot Study’, Education Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, p. 106.
Reyna, J., Meier, P., Geronimo, F. & Rodgers, K. 2016. ‘Implementing digital media presentations as assessment tools for pharmacology students’, American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 4, no. 14, pp. 983–991.
Smith-Gratto, K. & Fisher, M. M. (1999) ‘Gestalt theory: a foundation for instructional screen design’, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 361–371. doi: 10.2190/KVVE-B0EL-B0CJ-92KM
Stockman, S. (2011) How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro, Workman Publishing, New York, NY.
Taylor, A. (2011) ‘Top 10 reasons students dislike working in small groups … and why i do it anyway’, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 219–220. doi: 10.1002/bmb.20511
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (Eds.). (2010). Sage handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. SAGE, New York, NY.
Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (2000) ‘Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation’, Contemporary Educational Psychology, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 68–81. doi: 10.1006/ceps.1999.1015
Willey, K. & Gardner, A. (2010) ‘Investigating the capacity of self and peer assessment activities to engage students and promote learning’, European Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 429–443. doi: 10.1080/03043797.2010.490577
Williams, R. (2014) The Non-Designer’s Design Book: Design and Topographic Principles for the Visual Novice, Pearson Education, San Francisco, CA.
Aggarwal, P. & O’Brien, C. L. (2008) ‘Social loafing on group projects: structural antecedents and effect on student satisfaction’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 255–264. doi: 10.1177/0273475308322283
Alexander, B., Adams, S. & Cummins, M. (2016) Digital Literacy: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief, The New Media Consortium, pp. 1–16, [online] Available at: https://www.learntechlib.org/p/182085/
Anderson, J. (2013) ‘Active learning through student film: a case study of cultural geography’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 385–398. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2013.792041
Arvidsson, A. & Delfanti, A. (2019) Introduction to Digital Media, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NJ. doi: 10.1002/9781119276296
Blum, M. & Barger, A. (2018) ‘The CASPA model: an emerging approach to integrating multimodal assignments’, Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 309–321.
Bowen, C. J. (2013) Grammar of the Edit, CRC Press, Burlington, MA. doi: 10.4324/9780240526089
Bowen, C. J. & Thompson, R. (2013) Grammar of the Shot, Taylor & Francis, Burlington, MA. doi: 10.4324/9780240526096
Carroll, B. (2014) Writing and Editing for Digital Media, Routledge, New York, NY. doi: 10.4324/9781315850818
Chang, D., Dooley, L. & Tuovinen, J. E. (2002) ‘Gestalt theory in visual screen design: a new look at an old subject’, Proceedings of the Seventh World Conference on Computers in Education Conference on Computers in Education: Australian Topics, Volume 8, Australian Computer Society, Sydney. pp. 5–12.
Coulson, S. & Frawley, J. K. (2017) ‘Student generated multimedia for supporting learning in an undergraduate physiotherapy course’, in Me, Us, IT! Proceedings ASCILITE2017: 34th International Conference on Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education, eds H. Partridge, K. Davis & J. Thomas, Toowoomba, QLD, pp. 235–244.
Earnshaw, R. (2017) State of the Art in Digital Media and Applications, Springer, Bradford, UK. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-61409-0
Frawley, J. K., et al., (2015) ‘Building graduate attributes using student generated screencasts’, in Proceedings ASCILITE 2015, eds T. Reiners et al., Perth, pp. 88–99.
Fuller, I. C. & France, D. (2016) ‘Does digital video enhance student learning in field-based experiments and develop graduate attributes beyond the classroom?’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 193–206. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2016.1141186
Hoban, G., Nielsen, W. & Shepherd, A. (2015) Student-Generated Digital Media in Science Education: Learning, Explaining and Communicating Content, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, NY. doi: 10.4324/9781315735191
Hobbs, R. (2017) Create to Learn: Introduction to Digital Literacy, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
Kearney, M. (2009) ‘Towards a learning design for student-generated digital storytelling’, in The Future of Learning Design Conference, University of Wollongong, New South Wales. https://ro.uow.edu.au/fld/09/Program/4
Kearney, M. & Schuck, S. (2003) ‘Focus on pedagogy: the use of digital video and iMovie in K-12 schools’, in Apple University Consortium Conference, Apple Computer Australia, Sydney.
LeDoux, J. E. (1989) ‘Cognitive-emotional interactions in the brain’, Cognition & Emotion, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 267–289. doi: 10.1080/02699938908412709
LeDoux, J. E. (1992) ‘Emotion and the amygdala’, in The Amygdala: Neurobiological Aspects of Emotion, Memory, and Mental Dysfunction, ed J. P. Aggleton, Wiley-Liss, New York, NY, pp. 339–351.
Malamed, C. (2015) Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. doi: 10.1002/9781119153801
Martin, J. M. & Zahrndt, J. (2017) Media and Digital Literacy, Lexington Books, London.
Mayer, R. E. (2008) ‘Applying the science of learning: evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction’, American Psychologist, vol. 63, no. 8, p 760. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.63.8.760
Morel, G. & Keahey, H. (2016) ‘Student-generated multimedia projects as a multidimensional assessment method in a health information management graduate program’, in Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, eds G. Chamblee & L. Langub, Savannah, GA, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), pp. 1120–1125, 27th of January 2021. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/171830/
Musburger, R. B. & Kindem, G. (2012) Introduction to Media Production: The Path to Digital Media Production, Focal Press, Burlington, MA. doi: 10.4324/9780080509310
Nielsen, W., Hoban, G. & Hyland, C. (2017) ‘Pharmacology students’ perceptions of creating multimodal digital explanations’, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 329–339. doi: 10.1039/C6RP00244G
Ohler, J. (2009) ‘New-media literacies’, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/article/new-media-literacies?wbc_purpose=Basic%23sidebar%23main%3FPF%3D1#.YBHdbegzYuU
Ohler, J. (2013) Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity, Corwin Press. doi: 10.4135/9781452277479
Pearce, K. L. (2014) ‘Undergraduate creators of video, animations and blended media: the students’ perspective’, Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (formerly UniServe Science Conference), Sydney, Australia, pp. 156–162.
Pearce, K. L. & Vanderlelie, J. J. (2016) ‘Teaching and evaluating graduate attributes in multimedia science-based assessment task’, Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, The University of Queensland, Australia, Brisbane, QLD, pp. 215–225.
Pirhonen, J. & Rasi, P. (2016) ‘Student-generated instructional videos facilitate learning through positive emotions’, Journal of Biological Education, pp. 1–13. doi: 10.1080/00219266.2016.1200647
Potter, J. & McDougall, J. (2017) Digital Media, Culture and Education: Theorising Third Space Literacies, Springer, London. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55315-7
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. 2017a. ‘A taxonomy of digital media types for Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments’, E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 309–322.
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. 2018a. ‘A Methodological Approach to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments in Science Education’, EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2018. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Reyna, J., Hanham, J. & Meier, P. C. 2018b. ‘A framework for digital media literacies for teaching and learning in higher education’, E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 176–190.
Reyna, J., Hanham, J., Vlachopoulos, P. & Meier, P. 2019. ‘A Systematic Approach to Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments and Its Effect on Self-regulation in Tertiary Science Education’, Research in Science Education.
Reyna, J., Horgan, F., Ramp, D. & Meier, P. 2017b. ‘Using Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) as an Assessment Tool in Geological Sciences’, The 11th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference, INTED2017. INTED, Valencia (Spain), 6th-8th of March 2017.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018a. ‘Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) as an Assessment Tool in Tertiary Science Education: A Review of Literature’, The IAFOR Journal of Education, vol. 93.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018b. ‘A practical model for implementing digital media assessments in tertiary science education’, American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 27–31.
Reyna, J. & Meier, P. 2018c. ‘Using the Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) framework in tertiary science education: A Pilot Study’, Education Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, p. 106.
Reyna, J., Meier, P., Geronimo, F. & Rodgers, K. 2016. ‘Implementing digital media presentations as assessment tools for pharmacology students’, American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 4, no. 14, pp. 983–991.
Smith-Gratto, K. & Fisher, M. M. (1999) ‘Gestalt theory: a foundation for instructional screen design’, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 361–371. doi: 10.2190/KVVE-B0EL-B0CJ-92KM
Stockman, S. (2011) How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro, Workman Publishing, New York, NY.
Taylor, A. (2011) ‘Top 10 reasons students dislike working in small groups … and why i do it anyway’, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 219–220. doi: 10.1002/bmb.20511
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (Eds.). (2010). Sage handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. SAGE, New York, NY.
Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (2000) ‘Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation’, Contemporary Educational Psychology, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 68–81. doi: 10.1006/ceps.1999.1015
Willey, K. & Gardner, A. (2010) ‘Investigating the capacity of self and peer assessment activities to engage students and promote learning’, European Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 429–443. doi: 10.1080/03043797.2010.490577
Williams, R. (2014) The Non-Designer’s Design Book: Design and Topographic Principles for the Visual Novice, Pearson Education, San Francisco, CA.
Published
2021-02-05
How to Cite
Reyna J. (2021). Digital media assignments in undergraduate science education: an evidence-based approach. Research in Learning Technology, 29. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v29.2573
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Section
Original Research Articles
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