Teaching Bioethics via the Production of Student-generated Videos

Abstract

There is growing recognition that science is not conducted in a vacuum and that advances in the biosciences have ethical and social implications for the wider community. An exercise is described in which undergraduate students work in teams to produce short videos about the science and ethical dimensions of current developments in biomedicine. This activity has resulted in the generation of a large number of introductory films on a range of contemporary issues in medically related biology. The best videos are made freely available on the internet for use by any interested party. In this way, the students are not only learning about the issues for themselves, but are also producing valuable resources for enhancing public understanding of the science and ethics relating to newsworthy innovations. This task could be readily adapted for use with a broader range of topics with students in both secondary and tertiary education.

Keywords:

• Bioethics
• Digital video
• Students as producers
• Authentic assessment
• Employability

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Maria Viskaduraki for help with the statistical analysis and to David Wickins for assistance in preparation of Figure 2. Funding to provide the initial cameras for this project came via the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme.