I have assigned a video final project for the last few years. It’s a fun way for students to express their creativity and show their understanding of a concept. Students sign up for a topic and have to show their understanding of that topic, but are given the freedom to be creative in their video. I've gotten submissions such as an atoms infomercial, a type of bonds skit, a Wheel of Fortune ionic compounds game show, a Bob Ross atoms painting special, etc.
I usually give students two options for how to make their videos:
Option 1: Use your smart phone to film clips and edit with a free movie editing software. If you have an iPhone, you can even edit with iMovie right on your phone.
Option 2: Use an online video maker that animates a video for you. I provide an example video below that was built using Biteable for students who are stuck on "not knowing how to make a creative video". It's free to sign up and they can make an animated video without any graphic design experience!
Video 1: Lava Lamp Chemistry: Polarity and Solubility, Karen Ye's YouTube Channel, Feb 2020 (accessed 10/31/20)
Reasons why I recommend using Biteable for video projects:
- You end up with a clean, polished video project to grade. No hard to read handwriting. No out of focus video clips or images & no vertical videos.
- Most of the slides limit you to 80 characters, so students actually have to summarize information and can’t simply cut and paste definitions onto one slide
- It has students reinforce and demonstrate their understanding of a topic by organizing and summarizing information
- They have a good amount of science and chemistry themed slides!
You can also view a short tutorial on how to get started on Biteable HERE. (Note: This video is part of a short webinar on "Creating Effective and Engaging Bite-Sized Videos". You can view the recording for the full webinar here: https://bit.ly/31CzYJU)
The instructor can decide for themselves how much in class time is allowed for completing the video project but it will likely take at least a couple of days..
Students will need access to technology to record and edit videos.
Log into your ChemEd X account to access the Student handout, Topics List and Grading Rubric found in the Supporting Information at the conclusion of this post.
If the instructor wishes for only one group in each class to cover any given topic, there will be some organization required.