With DJI digital recording devices, we transformed the usual instruction of English and Art History -- two courses co-enrolled during students' study abroad experience -- by providing a medium that would integrate the WOVEN curriculum and the content of Art History, thereby encouraging collaboration across the cohort and engaging students actively in their surroundings.
Our project engaged students co-curricularly in a student-led video production club for which we provided the equipment. We found that by introducing the gimbals through a video production club, students who were typically a bit quieter took on different roles within the cohort and let their creativity and entrepreneurialism shine.
Our project also required collaboration and reflective exercises in ID 2242 Art History II: cognitive maps for which students explored a theme within five cities’ built environments, conducting research and answering questions that invited them to engage at a level beyond “tourist notations,” and cinematic glossaries that challenged them to create a thematic and interactive glossary of architecture in video and PDF presentations.
The creation of a video production club and distribution of equipment provided a leadership opportunity for students who wanted to be group leaders (and thus responsible for equipment) and a social opportunity that encouraged group projects in a safe, low-stakes environment.
We found that the introduction of the gimbals and video projects obligated students to think creatively, take risks, and struggle. Students wanted to know the ‘right’ answer for collaborative documentary projects, and sometimes found it frustrating that there wasn’t an example to show them. This uncertainty allowed students to be more exploratory and experimental.
The gimbals also encouraged genuine collaboration. The videos for which the teams crafted a holistic project (vs. approaching the videos from individual standpoints) were much more successful, so even though the gimbal is a singular, handheld tool it is still very much a device that rewards teamwork.
Transformative teaching and learning means obligating students to engage meaningfully with the course content independently and in conversation with each other and reinforcing reflection about activity through projects and assessments. Students learn not just for the grade, but for mastery, connecting course concepts to new contexts.