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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 11, Issue 1, Article 15 (Jun., 2010) |
After a half-century of using animated pictures in chemistry education, the time has come to assess and explore pedagogical perspectives in addition to didactic research.
Chemistry movies with a didactic aim were initially used in the context of cinematographic tradition through the reproduction of whole courses or the production of documentary films on the chemical industry. Each time, the movies were long and in showing these to their students, teachers were forced to stay in the background. The cost of their production and the assessment of their use eventually created some limitations. Long movies were better able to portray chemical phenomena and thus had an undeniable advantage, but their integration into the educational environment was problematic because their producers kept their pedagogical aims fixed and did not adapt to the differences in environment. Today, it is important that a teacher knows how to integrate movies into the lesson during the course of study.
Another generation of movies based on a more restricted body of knowledge then appeared. It was a matter of making a dynamic presentation of how a piece of equipment or a laboratory technique was being used, how an experiment was being performed or displaying a microscopic representation by means of images of synthesis. Less expensive to produce, these movies could be used in a variety of situations: preparation for an experiment, demonstration of a lesson, as a tool of evaluation, etc. The movies were becoming an element of education but did not represent a full educational course. The teacher could demonstrate an experiment without encountering problems with materials, safety or the elimination of wastes, and also without worrying about whether or not the experiment would actually work. The teacher could interrupt the movie, comment on it or run it again. This provided many advantages over performing the actual experiment. With this evolution in the content of movies, it can be said that it became possible to eliminate parts of the teaching program that used to be preferred in a traditional curriculum and keep the parts which represented an advantage in the first long movies.
Students were spending more and more time in front of a screen; their parents had not spent this much time reading when they were the same ages (Rheingold, 1994). A new mode of acquiring knowledge thus appeared and it cannot be denied that students became conditioned to wanting to learn. Education should thus adapt to this new form of acquiring knowledge and indeed, in new educational environments in the future, teachers will be more aware of the process of learning.
Movies are used in chemistry education to create effective and productive learning environments. The use of movies in chemistry education is reported to be successful in overcoming problems that cannot be eliminated with traditional teaching methods (e.g., understanding and conceptualization difficulties, misconceptions, motivation) (Sanger & Greenbowe, 1997; Burke et al., 1998; Ebenezer, 2001; Kelly & Jones, 2007; Dasdemir et al., 2008). Creating scientifically accurate, comprehensive and consistent mental models is indispensable in meaningfully learning chemistry. An educational program that includes chemistry movies is helpful to students in developing their conceptual understanding and forming high-quality mental models. Movies facilitate learning by allowing students to animate abstract chemical concepts in their minds (Williamson & Abraham, 1995; Cavanaugh & Cavanaugh, 1996; Goll & Woods, 1999; Sanger et al., 2000; Laroche et al., 2003; Yang et al., 2003; Marcano et al., 2004; Sanger et al., 2007). Ultimately an educational program that includes movies has been seen to create a significant increase in students’ knowledge. Indeed, it has been set forth that movies have a positive impact on acquiring knowledge (Zahn et al., 2004; Michel et al., 2007).
Movies contribute to the development of a student’s cognitive capabilities, including interpreting, critical thinking and problem-solving skills (Kumar et al., 1994; Hagen, 2002). The use of movies as teaching materials has a positive impact on a student’s motivation (Kumar, 1991; Hagen, 2002). By effectively capturing the attention, movies ensure that students focus on the subject that is being taught and help them to retain the scientific knowledge they acquire (Duchastel et al., 1988). Additionally, movies also make it easier for students to remember the important points in subject matter (Kumar, 1991).
Important aspects of chemistry education are concerned, from a theoretical point of view, with the transformation of matter or the relation between structure and reactivity and, from an experimental point of view, with techniques related to the use of an analytical device or of glass objects in the laboratory. There is a dynamic aspect in both cases, and movies supply more advantages than photos or diagrams in building up knowledge. This is the direction that is taken by innovative ideas that are in harmony with research that stresses the importance of motivation and conceptual change. In the context of phenomena that take place at the microscopic level or of scientific models, animations provide students with the opportunity to see things that cannot be directly perceived. Because of their ability to present chemical processes in action, movies are an important teaching and learning tool in chemistry education.
The various limitations present in all classical experiments that must be performed in teaching environments prevent students from conceptualizing chemical phenomena that occur on a microscopic level. In contrast, movies provide students with the opportunity to watch microscopic chemical events with the help of active three-dimensional models. Students can thus see what is not directly accessible to the perception with the help of movies (Sanger et al., 2000; Ebenezer, 2001). In addition, movies are also useful in the teaching and learning environment in that they offer students a chance to observe rapidly-occurring scientific events and allow the teacher to show students in visual terms what has been explained orally in class (Robles, 1997).
Teachers may not be able to allow students to operate freely in the learning environment, either because the needed tools and equipment are too expensive to procure or because of the hazards that some experiments may present in the chemistry laboratory. Experiments in movie form, however, do not present hazards involving dangerous chemicals nor do they involve expensive tools and equipment (Hakerem et al., 1993). Movies are useful in teaching students about hazardous or problematic substances and introducing them to various types of equipment.
Ever since movies began to be used in classrooms in the 21st century, teaching and learning methods and strategies have continued to change. Making use of movies in the teaching environment has changed styles of teaching, creating a shift from a teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. Instead of remaining passive, students actively participate in the learning process (problem-solving, knowledge-building, etc.) in the classroom (Bernauer, 1995; Own & Wong, 2000). The use of movies in educational environments provides the opportunity to work together with the student. Students have the chance to discuss the chemical phenomena seen in the movie, communicating with each other to define and explain the particular chemical concept (Laroche et al., 2003). This leads to an interaction of knowledge among students and provides an opportunity to support the acquisition of knowledge through the building of a social structure (Solomon, 1987; Driver et al., 1994).
In the 1960’s, Mellon and Dence (1971) filmed teachers who were carrying out general chemistry experiments. These 5-minute movies were then viewed by the teachers to serve as a basis for pedagogical improvement. Movies were thus used in teacher training to make teachers aware of their own deficiencies.
Filmed courses on chemistry education were then created. These were on the topics of the history of chemistry, specific methods of teaching, tools used in chemistry education and problems encountered in this domain (Burewicz & Gulinska, 1990).
Teacher training with regard to knowledge about available multimedia tools, their use and assessment, can be improved. In any given educational situation, today’s teachers may not always know the benefits students can be expected to derive from the use of chemistry movies. Teachers must be aware of the benefits of using movies in a classroom environment. Some chemical reactions, for example, may be extremely risky for students to attempt. Instead of having students work with these reactions, using movies to demonstrate will eliminate any possible hazards. Also, at times when there is too little time to experiment or when the teacher is not totally satisfied with what has been taught, movies take on a complementary role in teaching chemistry.
Movies can be utilized in evaluating students or in the preparation of examinations. A traditional explanation in the form of a text could be replaced by a movie. The Micromega® CD-ROM for the 12th grade, mentioned above, presents some examples of such replacements.
Teachers might believe that with the use of movies in the teaching environments these movies will be taking on the responsibility of teaching in the classroom (Sutherland, 2004). Teachers must be informed so that they do not form this misconception. In addition, teachers must also be trained, not only in the technical aspects of using movies in the classroom, but in choosing appropriate methods and strategies that will incorporate movies in the learning process. There is a need for research in this direction.
Chemistry movies have been shortened since their first appearance. The cost of producing movies constitutes one reason for this; the skills of communication of teachers may be another. Students who have been accustomed to hearing professional voices and seeing the rehearsed behavior of actors and presenters on television might be critical of the filmed image of their teacher. However, for high level courses, when content difficult to master prevails over the form of explanation, conference courses might be the ideal solution. Such conference-courses carried out by specialists can be used in the universities as the basis of education on a subject that is presented in a movie. There are professional examples of such conferences on the École Normale Supérieure of Lyon website, available for consultation online. There are some perspectives on these conference courses but these must be developed.
Although movies of experiments have reached a satisfactory maturity, animations on the other hand, have not met their expected potential. Some animations can be criticized from the perspective of knowledge because the designer often does not have enough scientific knowledge about the particular model(s). The production of animations requires the joint effort of chemists, of persons who know the students well and computer graphics experts.
The multimedia, comprising movies and animations, must propose tasks for students and not be limited by the simple showing of movies. It is not enough to demonstrate chemistry, it is also necessary to activate different sensory modalities and create an effective environment that will improve learning and at the same time make students think more about the subject of chemistry.
