Using film as an educational medium in higher education

Abstract

This paper is the result of empirical, qualitative research conducted with the aim of studying and gaining an understanding of the benefits of using film as an educational medium in higher education in terms of achieving educational outcomes, providing students with emotional and cognitive stimulation and engagement, and encouraging reflection and self-reflection through a relationship with film as a specific carrier of educational content, which occur in virtual learning environments. The convenience sample consisted of twelve students who attended the course Online Adult Education in 2017-18, and who were intensively engaged in activities that were part of the course's thematic unit Theories of Learning and Online Adult Education. The instructional material used as part of this unit was Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon (1950). Through two research phases: the discussion phase, which was also the phase of data collection, and the phase of narrative, discourse and content analysis, as well as the grouping of the data obtained through discussion and their thematic analysis, we arrived at results which can also be understood as practical educational implications, and which unequivocally indicate that the use of film as an educational medium encourages: the emotional and cognitive stimulation of students, whether positive or negative; students' perseverance in carrying out assignments and the eventual achievement of learning objectives; introspection, which further defines the quality of learning insights, reflection and self-reflection aimed at attaining concrete learning objectives predefined by learning units.

Keywords

• film
• medium
• cognitive engagement
• emotional engagement
• students