Abstract:

This presentation will focus on the use of media and video instruction as methods of content dissemination in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Specifically, this area, dubbed “edutainment”, will chronicle three separate large scale interactions with students, teachers and community members that utilized live action to video as methods of capturing relevant content in student-centered contexts.

This session will focus on the planning, development and implementation process used by educators to create and deliver hands-on mini-lessons in this unique forum. Additionally, there will be a discussion of how aspects of this type of engaging education connect to the teaching they more commonly do. Tips and lessons learned will be shared for attendees interested in exploring the potential for outreach and informal education to inspire broader interest in mathematics, science, reading, learning and other subjects, and to develop a culture of education that extends democratically in making higher education accessible to all students.

In the first segment, the use of video instruction for physical science topics for Middle School students will be explored. Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science, a science curriculum supplement that consists of video instruction and classroom activities. This product is an example that focuses on the physical science concepts found in the areas of forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and simple machines. The use of familiar activities, situations and objects, such as skateboarding and bicycle motocross (BMX), around which students can explore and explain scientific concepts can be defined as Action Science.

In the second segment, two examples will be presented in which large scale live demonstrations were utilized to engage students in multimedia enhanced stadium settings, which produced video content that could be utilized for in class instruction and motivation in STEM related topics. The first example will cover an effort in which over 3500 Eighth graders learned more about basic scientific theories tested by several professional skateboarders, BMX riders and an inline skater held in El Paso, Texas, USA on September 17, 2009. The second example in this segment will focus on an event held on May 3, 2012 in El Paso, Texas in conjunction with Opportunity Nation festivities that was done for approximately 8,000 area elementary and middle school students. A team of educators and professional action sports athletes in both the disciplines of BMX and skateboarding performed live demonstrations, which were done in order to engage local students in explorations of mathematics and science in the context of Action Science.

The third segment of the presentation will focus on the delivery of STEM content in a children’s television show. In mid-September 2011, El Paso PBS-affiliate KCOS-TV began airing a locally-produced children’s educational show (Blast Beyond) that includes a seasoned television host, a three-piece rock band, and a live on-stage audience of children ages 6-9 from a local school. The show airs on weekdays to a broadcast area of 2 million people spanning three states. Sample video of the educational aspects from the show will be included in the presentation and used to emphasize the types of interactions done within an educational television show designed to actively engage young students.

Keywords:

Edutainment, action, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.