Abstract:

The implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has led to a new era in academic training at the university level. This evolution is centered around the incorporation of active learning methodologies, emphasizing not only the development of specific technical expertise but also fostering cross-disciplinary skills. Among these skills, written and oral communication, proficiency in information and communication technologies (ICTs), creativity, and collaborative teamwork can be highlighted. Accordingly, the creation of videos can be highly regarded as an innovative teaching tool, thanks to their inherent communicative power, which also contributes to giving students a voice. Moreover, the creation of outreach videos by students covering different topics related to the content of their subjects is a valuable tool for both acquiring and assessing technical skills. Likewise, it is important to highlight that it also serves as an effective means to evaluate cross-disciplinary skills [1,2]. Hence, this work describes a practical experience developed at the Higher School of Experimental Sciences and Technology in the Rey Juan Carlos University. This experience involved the creation of short outreach videos (less than 5 min) by students within the optional subject “Analytical Control of Contaminants in Food” from 4th course of the degree in Food Science and Technology. The students were divided into groups of 3 people and each group was assigned a type of food contaminant by lottery. First, the students had to carry out a research project on the specific food contaminant using reliable scientific sources. Afterwards, with the information found, they had to prepare an outreach video adapted to the general public, using simple and easy to understand language. This experience was set as a mandatory and evaluable activity for all the students enrolled in the subject. A total of 5 outreach videos were created by the students, which were disseminated through different social networks and other communication channels. These videos were academically evaluated by the teachers of the subject, considering the following criteria: duration, content, originality, design, use of language, explanatory, and quality of video editing. Moreover, the videos were also critically evaluated by the Coordination of the Food Science and Technology degree in order to choose the best one. In consequence, the student members of the group awarded with the best video received a prize. Overall, the experience was successful, and it was positively evaluated by the students. The results obtained have shown that the creation of videos by students has great potential as innovative educational tool, which helps consolidate student learning and increase their motivation, because if the students are the ones who generate their own video based on a specific topic on which they have previously researched, the learning is more significant. Moreover, the creation of outreach videos contributes to increase society's knowledge and also teach students how to use ICTs from a critical point of view allowing them to understand their potential and their possible misuses, as well as take advantage of their great benefits.

Keywords:

Outreach videos, Food Science and Technology, Motivation, Cross-disciplinary skills, Information and communication technologies.