CREATION OF VIDEOS BY STUDENTS AS A WAY TO PROMOTE LEARNING IN THE AREA OF MECHANICS: AN EXPERIENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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abstract
The Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTeSPs) of the Portuguese Polytechnic Higher Institutes
correspond to a cycle of higher education studies that does not confer an academic degree. They have a
duration of 2 years and the successful conclusion leads to obtaining a higher professional technician
diploma. Given the specificity of this type of courses, the course units of their study plan must promote,
whenever possible, more student-centred learning with a greater connection to practice. This approach
has been followed in the Safety and Environment course unit classes of the CTeSPs in Chemical and
Biological Analysis and Mechanical Technology and Vehicles of a Higher Education Institution in the North
of Portugal, between the academic years 2016/2017 and 2020/2021. In this sense, and in the Safety
component, tasks were proposed that, depending on the academic year in which they were performed,
involved different scenarios: (1) laboratory context and (2) business context (study visits). In both cases, it
was proposed to the students to carry out a practical work in group that intended to analyse the hazards
and risks associated with aspects of the context in question, applying in a specific situation the contents
of the course unit. This type of work was oriented so that there was knowledge sharing (lectures and group
interaction) among students attending: (i) the course unit; (ii) the course unit in another CTeSP and (iii)
another course unit in degree courses. In some situations, connections were established with other course
units, within the same course, or in different courses. In this paper we intend to explain the different
approaches applied, reflecting on their advantages/disadvantages and possible perspectives of adaptation
to the other component of the course unit (Environment) or other courses.
The degree courses in Mechanical Engineering and Technology and Industrial Management of
Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal) include in the 2nd semester of the 2nd year of their
study plan, the course units of Mechanical Technology I and Manufacturing Processes I,
respectively. The contents of these course units are mostly theoretical, so it is important to find
approaches that motivate the students and involve them directly in their learning. The creation of
videos for later presentation to colleagues can fulfil this role, as it requires students to search,
interpret, select and organize information about the contents and reflect on the best way to transmit
it to their peers. Within the mentioned course units, in one of the academic years in which classes
were essentially online due to the pandemic, it was proposed to the students the creation, in group,
two videos (each one at a different stage of the semester), with the themes assigned by the
teacher so that, as a whole, they would cover all the contents that it was essential to explore.
The following steps were followed:
(i) research on the theme and production of the video by each group;
(ii) sharing the videos with classmates;
(iii) extra-class viewing of the videos produced by classmates;
(iv) students answering general questions about the videos they watched;
(v) brief oral presentation in a class by each group about the video produced;
(vi) class discussion on the themes of the videos, based on questions posed by the students, and
(vii) an evaluation test on the themes covered.
Only when all the steps concerning the videos produced in the first phase were fulfilled did we
proceed to the preparation of the videos for the second phase, following again the whole process
described above. We consider that, with this methodology, the students were more motivated and
started to have a more active role in the classes, becoming also (together with the teacher who had
the role of an advisor) responsible for the learning of the class, as they contributed with their work
and questions to the exploration of the contents. We underline that the described approach,
besides promoting the acquisition and deepening of knowledge about the course unit contents,
contributed to the development, by the students, of several transversal skills, which can be useful
in their daily life or in their professional future.
The degree courses in Mechanical Engineering and Technology and Industrial Management of
Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal) include in the 2nd semester of the 2nd year of their study
plan, the course units of Mechanical Technology I and Manufacturing Processes I, respectively. The
contents of these course units are mostly theoretical, so it is important to find approaches that motivate
the students and involve them directly in their learning. The creation of videos for later presentation to
colleagues can fulfil this role, as it requires students to search, interpret, select and organize information
about the contents and reflect on the best way to transmit it to their peers. Within the mentioned course
units, in one of the academic years in which classes were essentially online due to the pandemic, it was
proposed to the students the creation, in group, two videos (each one at a different stage of the
semester), with the themes assigned by the teacher so that, as a whole, they would cover all the contents
that it was essential to explore. The following steps were followed: (i) research on the theme and
production of the video by each group; (ii) sharing the videos with classmates; (iii) extra-class viewing
of the videos produced by classmates; (iv) students answering general questions about the videos they
watched; (v) brief oral presentation in a class by each group about the video produced; (vi) class
discussion on the themes of the videos, based on questions posed by the students, and (vii) an
evaluation test on the themes covered. Only when all the steps concerning the videos produced in the
first phase were fulfilled did we proceed to the preparation of the videos for the second phase, following
again the whole process described above. We consider that, with this methodology, the students were
more motivated and started to have a more active role in the classes, becoming also (together with the
teacher who had the role of an advisor) responsible for the learning of the class, as they contributed
with their work and questions to the exploration of the contents. We underline that the described
approach, besides promoting the acquisition and deepening of knowledge about the course unit
contents, contributed to the development, by the students, of several transversal skills, which can be
useful in their daily life or in their professional future.
