An overview of the innovative filmmaking field course unit run in the School of Biological Sciences.
How it all started
Back in 2018 Andy Wakefield and Emily Bell were looking to offer something a bit different on the BSc Biological Sciences undergraduate programmes. They’d noticed that many students arrive at university without the skills and resilience that would enable them to flourish and were keen to embed these skills into the curriculum, not just to improve their study experience but also to help them transition to life beyond their course. Andy had an interest in Technology Enhanced Learning and, in her role as Senior Tutor, Emily had noticed drops in confidence in terms of group work. They were keen to directly address anxieties around novel assessment formats by providing a safe space for students to initially feel uncomfortable and then observe how they’d grown from that experience.
As home to Wildscreen and the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Bristol has an affinity with wildlife filmmaking and Andy was keen to integrate filmmaking into the degree programmes. So, they introduced an optional filmmaking field course unit which students can take at the end of their second year but which counts towards their 3rd year. They were successful in obtaining funding which allowed them to employ a research assistant and were lucky to recruit Rose Murray and her biological and pedagogical skills to help develop and run the field course.
Starter to star!
A key priority for the course is to keep it as inclusive as possible, for example using free software and filming on mobile phones rather than snazzy cameras. The final software does need a licence but the University holds one, so students don’t need to pay for their own. Students choose a biological topic that they want to explain to an audience, for example coral bleaching, and are provided with the tools to achieve that goal through creating a film. Some start off with no prior filmmaking experience at all, but they are taken through the whole process from research and building a story board, to shooting and sourcing footage, and finally editing. All within a week!
Some start off with no prior filmmaking experience at all, but they are taken through the whole process from research and building a story board, to shooting and sourcing footage, and finally editing. All within a week!
This can be a daunting prospect for the students. Not only are they learning and developing a whole new set of skills but they are potentially working with people they have never met before, plus it’s a really tight turnaround. These are likely to be pressures and challenges that are new to most people in the group, but the opportunity for growth is huge. At the end of the week a red carpet event is held with BBC guest judges to celebrate what they have created and you can tell that students are really proud of what they have achieved.
Feedback
To understand the impact of undertaking this week-long course , the first cohort of students to take the course were surveyed both at the start and end of the week to see how their confidence in particular skills had developed. Students completed a reflective piece as part of their course assessment which was also included in Andy, Rose and Emily’s thematic analysis to explore student experiences. Results from their research shows that students’ self-confidence really increases in a range of areas – not just academically, but in their digital capabilities and their team-working and communication skills as well. They are gaining much more than they would if they were just analysing data and these are authentic life-long skills which will be relevant long after graduation.
For an in-depth review of the impact of the filmmaking unit you can access the full paper by Andy Wakefield, Rose Murray and Emily Bell: Filmmaking with biology undergraduates: combining digital technology with authentic assessment to develop students’ skillset and capabilities for life after graduation.
You may also be interested in the Filmmaking for assessment tools and Model for Implementing Learner-Generated Filmmaking into Undergraduate Teaching and Assessment as practical guides for ways you can integrate filmmaking into your curriculums.
