The Influence of Documentary Films on 8th Grade Students’ Views about Nature of Science

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aims to investigate the documentary films' influence on 8th grade students' nature of science views. The study's participants were 113 8th grade students from two different schools taught by two different teachers. The study was completed over a 6-week period, during which topics related to "Cell Division and Heredity" and "Force and Motion" were covered. In the experimental group, six documentary films were integrated into the science curriculum to teach ideas about nature of science. The control group, however, followed the regular science curriculum. The Views of Nature of Science Elementary Level (VNOS-E) questionnaire developed by Lederman and Ko (2004) was used as the data collection tool. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with 28 students using the VNOS-E questionnaire at the beginning and end of the study. The results suggest that students in the control group showed no significant improvement in their understanding about nature of science in response to the instruction.However, students in the experimental group showed statistically improvements in their understanding about four of the five nature of science themes in response to the instruction. In addition, a statistically significant difference was found between the views of the experimental group and those of the control group students in the post-test results for four of the five nature of science themes. The results suggest that the use of documentary films in science classrooms has the potential to enhance students' views about nature of science.

Analyzing the Documentary Film "Marie Curie" in terms of the Nature of Science Themes

“…For this reason, the film can be used in science education. In the literature, there are studies on the nature of science (Baskalyoncu, 2017;Kapucu et al, 2015). The results of these studies overlap with the findings of the current study.…”

“…In the literature, there are studies on films and film genres in the field of science education (Baskalyoncu, 2017;Dark, 2005;Efthimiou & Llewellyn, 2006, 2007Piliouras et al, 2011;Kapucu et al, 2015).…”

The Use of Documentary Films to Improve Learning Outcomes of Islamic Cultural History in Students

“…The increased timely availability of documentaries will provide audiences with expanded learning about the opposition (Iwasaki, 2021). Through this documentary, students will carry out several stages of learning according to the PjBL approach, namely determining basic (important) questions, planning project designs, scheduling, monitoring project progress, checking learning processes and outcomes, and finally evaluating a learning experience (Nenoliu et al, 2020;Seckin Kapucu et al, 2015). In addition, documentaries give instructors two opportunities to teach.…”

¿Cómo percibe el profesorado de Educación primaria en formación el cine documental?

“…El éxito del cine documental se basa, en parte, en la capacidad de acercar al espectador a realidades difícilmente alcanzables de otra manera (Burgos Risco y Mayor Iborra, 2012;León, 2002). Diversas investigaciones muestran que el uso de películas documentales con fines educativos en distintos niveles, tiene resultados favorables en el aprendizaje (Alyaz et al, 2017;Arroio, 2007;Arroio y Farías, 2011;Barlett et al, 2022;Culloty y Brereton, 2017;Janpol y Dilts, 2016;Hilburn et al, 2022;Repoussi y Mavrommati, 2022;Seckin Kapucu et al, 2015;Valenti, 2018). Ese potencial educativo reside en que el documental nos alerta sobre el mundo que conocemos, o creemos conocer, pero nos lo muestra desde otras perspectivas, desencadenando intereses y emociones que nos invitan a una transformación crítica de nuestra propia comprensión del mundo (Smith, 2014).…”