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Documentary Films: Engaging learning through emotion

By Briana VanBuskirk

+Objectives

ESU Graduate students will understand how film acts as an instructional tool and why it motivates most learners to have a stronger

interest in the learning topic.

+What you will take away…

To think of film as a form of education

To understand how human psychology works and why film is helpful in the learning process

To understand more about ourselves!

+What we will learn…

Who uses documentary films to educate

What content can be covered through film

Where learners can explore through documentary film

When/what time periods can be shown

Why it is helpful in the education process

where?

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The Awa TribeThe AWA tribe live in the forests of Brazil

They are able to live completely off of the land

However, illegal logging has destroyed their lands

Their sacred forest is destroyed and their friends and family have died because of it

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ProtectionBrazil’s minister of justice had the power to protect the land, but did not

The Survival channel on YouTube used video production to inform people of what was going on to make them aware the Awa civilization and their threats

They provided a link at the end of videos that allowed people to directly message the prime minister so that they could voice their opinions

This caused a global voice

After campaigning and protesting

to protect the land, prime minister

finally took action and began to control logging.

+https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vINm1USMvNY

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LET’S REFLECT…Which display of info did you react better to?

Why?

You just experienced the emotional effects of documentary filming!

+Who uses them?

Teachers

Organizations

Businesses

Students

YOU!

+Who do they teach?

They can be used to teach ANYONE as long as the video content matches their intellectual levels.

For marketing purposes, videos are directed at certain audiences in order to sell products

+What can be taught?

+Where can documentary filming take you?

+When?

+Why?

Teachers need to provide students with engaging learning materials to teach with.

Organizations need to reach a large audience and must catch attention.

Businesses might need to promote a product and it’s best to show how it’s used.

Students can use it creatively (or learn about the subject of film as their major).

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PSYCHOCINEMATICS

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How? EmotionNegative emotional arousal (i.e., guilt and disgust) will positively predict issue interest and learning.

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How? FlowFlow: also known as zone is a mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus.

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How? NarrativeEngagement theories posit that narratives, whether fictional or factual, can transport people into the story and lead to higher levels of issue interest and learning (Green, Brock, & Kaufman, 2004; Wirth, 2006)

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How? Human NatureWe have a stronger emotional reaction to documentary film because the narrative is real life. We have curiosity that drives us to find out more about the world.

+So, let’s use documentary films!

+Sources

Jill Godmilow and Ann-Louise Shapiro

History and Theory

Vol. 36, No. 4, Theme Issue 36: Producing the Past: Making Histories Inside and Outside the Academy (Dec., 1997), pp. 80-101

LaMarre, H. L., & Landreville, K. D. (2009). When is Fiction as Good as Fact? Comparing the Influence of Documentary and Historical Reenactment Films on Engagement, Affect, Issue Interest, and Learning. Mass Communication & Society, 12(4), 537-555. doi:10.1080/15205430903237915

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online

Shimamura, Arthur P. (Editor) (2013). Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies. Oxford University Press.

http://www.psyartjournal.com/article/show/n_holland-your_brain_on_movies

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-22/health/sc-health-0622-movies-impact-on-body-20110622_1_horror-films-intense-movies-birgit-wolz

http://www.apa.org/divisions/div46/Fischoff%20Essay%20on%20Media%20Psychology.pdf