Use of the Cinema as a Strategy for the Teaching of Scientific Research

Abstract

The present paper deals with the problems, goals, activities and achievements of the use of the cinema as a didactic strategy for research, which besides the incorporation of specific knowledge is required to obtain particular skills and attitudes. Since the students of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences and Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Belgrano were required to carry out a personal research as an end-of-degree project, the decision was taken to introduce -from the first years, apart from the subjects specific to the degree- any methodology that would motivate them beyond providing relevant data on the research world of in an attractive way.Currently, the former possibility of the development of an almost personal relationship between a beginner in the field of research and his/her teacher is no longer a reality; this relationship allowed both profound insights into different aspects related to research that went further than merely methodological ones, issues such as secondary interests and benefits, the role of the researcher, the community role, respect for human beings, and the necessary ethical precautions, etc. Research needs to go beyond simple informative knowledge; it should also involve an education in skills and attitudes.The use of films for the teaching of sciences is already an everyday reality in certain European countries, and we have even taken part in joint research on this topic between the University of Belgrano (Argentina) and the University of Salamanca (Spain). The novelty in this sense was to use it not as it is usually presented for a better recall of contents, but to motivate students to carry out their own research and to offer their initial conceptions on science and its methodology, together with their reflections about certain aspects of scientific work.

Keywords

• investigación
• enseñanza de la investigación
• enseñanza de la ciencia
• cine.