Training more socially-conscious physicists using discussion groups

What did you want to achieve in this project? 

We wanted to write a paper on discussion groups carried out alongside a film makers course, aiming to understand how YouTube videos can be used to stimulate discussion.

What happened in your project? 
We set out to understand how youtube videos can affect discussions, and therefore recorded the discussions after watching youtube videos, which were then analysed. After these were analysed, we wrote our findings up into a paper.

What were the main successes of your project? 

Our paper was accepted into an education journal! We’re hoping that education facilities utilise youtube as a form of education and discussion stimulant even more in the future, and that our paper can help push that forward.

What would you do differently? If so, why? 

I would spend more time analysing each of the discussion scripts. Ideally, I would also have recorded the discussion so that during the analysis it would be easier to identify when most people were engaging. 

What difference do you think it has made? 
The project is part of a wider initiative to encourage science communication through film and video. It will hopefully encourage people to use film and videos to engage students with issues with regards to science or society in general

What was it like doing a ChangeMakers project? 

It was quite a different experience, one that I would not necessarily have gotten through my degree.It was a great opportunity to further communication and collaboration skills. I enjoyed working with and meeting new people, and I have presented something which I am proud of.