Peer Review

Elixr: Student Video Projects in Anthropology Education

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Reviewed:: Jun 29, 2012 by Faculty Development

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: “Elixr: Student Video Projects in Anthropology Education” is a case study of a video “mash-up” assignment given in an “Anthropology and Cinema” course taught by Dr. Louise Krasniewicz at the University of Pennsylvania. For that assignment, students create short videos that combine clips from two popular movies to illustrate anthropological concepts. Through both text and video, the case study provides descriptions of the assignment, instructional strategy behind it, and technical support for students, and examples of student work. Interviews with Dr. Krasniewicz and students from the course are included.
Type of Material:: Video and supporting print documentation.
Recommended Uses:: This material is designed as self-contained, independent study. It could also be incorporated into a workshop or broader set of materials about student video projects.
Technical Requirements:: Browser with Flash plug-in.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The purpose of this resource is to illustrate the instructional use of a video mash-up, specifically in an anthropology course, as well as more generally.
Target Student Population:: The primary audience for this material is anthropology instructors who may be able to apply the assignment to their own courses. The secondary audience is instructors in other disciplines, who, though not able to apply the assignment as directly, may be able to apply the general type of assignment illustrated into their courses. A tertiary audience may be instructional technologists and other faculty support staff, who can use this material as an example when introducing faculty to student video projects.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Students should be prepared with a basic understanding of how to use simple video editing software, Wed 2.0 technologies and/or YouTube

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The quality of the content was excellent with just the right mix of video, text and supplemental information/guidelines. I found that including the student perspective along with the instructors rationale really enhanced the practicality of creating a project of this sort in undergraduate courses.
Concerns:: None.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: A good combination of presentation methods, well structured to introduce the assignment, share reactions and examples, and provide more detailed background materials.
Concerns:: While there are no concerns about the effectiveness of the material presented, as Dr. Krasniewicz notes in one of the video interviews, students who receive a video assignment will expect support from their instructors. Dr. Krasniewicz obviously has the expertise needed to provide that support, but many faculty do not. It would be helpful if the material included general references for faculty who wanted to start learning about the basic technical aspects behind a video assignment (the resources listed in the “Credits and Contacts” section seem to be specific to Penn).

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The material was well laid out and very easy to use. The site was set up to allow easy access to the various components, instructor comments, student reflections and sample work.
Concerns:: Multiple levels of navigation (overall tool and screen) may cause confusion for some users. The video player has play, stop, and pause controls, but lacks the ability to replay or jump to a specific section of a video, so if you miss something you have to re-watch the whole segment. When moving from section to section in the material, the new section sometimes failed to load. This may have been my Internet connection, but it happened often enough to make me wonder if there was an issue on the server where the material resides.

Other Issues and Comments:: Overall a very well structured case study that nicely introduces the elements of a video mash-up assignment.
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