Purpose: Interest in using popular movies in higher education has flourished, but determining their actual impact remains tricky. Some studies suggest these movies can positively affect student satisfaction, yet many criticize this method as ineffective or lazy. Our study compared two ways of using popular movies -- watching them in class versus a…

The paper draws on two drama series in Asia and demonstrates that studying issues related to gender roles and equality through popular historical Asian drama series is both challenging and fruitful. The present study not only illustrates the complexity involved in studying gender roles and gender equality, but also suggests several teaching…

This qualitative research study examined how teacher candidates' (TCs) participation in reflection cycles involving recording and viewing video of their teaching practice served to support their development as reflective practitioners. The reflection cycle included viewing and annotating one's own teaching, receiving peer and instructor dialogic…

Utilizing film as a teaching tool in a personal leadership development course helped undergraduate students synthesize authentic leadership concepts. "Iron Jawed Angels" facilitated the culminating lesson as students applied course concepts to an observed leader. Three objectives guided the final lesson: (a) critique Alice Paul's…

The purpose of this article is to provide examples of business concepts appearing in science fiction, offering accounting and business educators a means to engage students and allow students to make connections with business concepts outside of the strict business realm, resulting in increased long-term learning. To accomplish this, the "Star…

This paper intends to investigate the effectiveness of a new course pattern--TED-motivated English Public Speaking Course in EFL teaching in China. This class framework adopts TED videos as the learning materials to stimulate students to be a better speaker. Meanwhile, it aims to examine to what extent the five aspects of language skills are…

A visual aid teaching tool, the DanceChemistry video series, has been developed to teach fundamental chemistry concepts through dance. These educational videos portray chemical interactions at the molecular level using dancers to represent chemical species. Students reported that the DanceChemistry videos helped them visualize chemistry ideas in a…

Photo elicitation theoretically located under Creative Analytic Practice was set as an assessment on a taught postgraduate programme. In groups of three to four, 30 students acted as both researcher and participant. Group topics were self-selected, each member took five photographs that group members reflected on. Topics chosen were varied and…

Visual literacy was a stated learning objective for the fall 2009 iteration of a first-year seminar course. To help students develop visual literacy skills, they received formal instruction throughout the semester and completed a series of carefully designed learning activities. The effects of these interventions were measured using a one-group…

"This country has been the basis of my being. And when it's no longer there, you know, it's unthinkable." Ueantabo Mackenzie's haunting words in the PBS NOW documentary "Paradise Lost" shook the author. He knew he wanted to teach a unit on global warming, especially after participating in the Portland-area Rethinking Schools…

This paper examines the relationship between specific documentaries and white student teachers' emotional responses to their viewing as part of a postgraduate teacher education course on educational equality. Documentaries are considered in terms of features (including elements of text), form (including stylistic conventions) and function in order…

Employers in the 21st century seek graduates with a demonstrated ability to be independent, self-managing, lifelong learners. In this paper the authors explore student responses to a tutorial activity designed to promote lifelong learning skills. The activity is framed around situated learning theory, and capitalises on the affordances of video…

This study aims to examine and demonstrate practices, elements and techniques employed by the action research method. It examines the use of films in sociology instruction in college, and the influence of films on the development of students' understanding of human nature. Based on the professional experience of the authors films utilize and…

Through this study the authors investigated undergraduate students' memory recall in three media environments with three note-taking options, following an A x B design with nine experiments. The three environments included no-distraction, auditory-distraction, and auditory-visual-distraction; while the three note-taking options included…

This article begins by recognizing the increasing use of film in Religion, Theology, and Bible courses. It contends that in many Biblical Studies (and Religious Studies and Theology) courses, students are neither taught how to view films properly, nor how to place films into constructive dialogue with biblical texts. The article argues for a…