An academic’s toolkit for innovative project reporting using audio visual media

The paper introduces a novel method of injecting additional motivation to team projects. Teams of students, engaged in a variety of different assignments are encouraged to learn while creating their own audio-visual media; they are required to prepare and edit a short video documentary as a replacement for the more conventional written or oral report. Using survey data, collected over several years at two separate UK universities, the authors provide evidence that this medium generates much needed engagement, help teams to bond and promotes a deeper understanding of the subject matter. An additional benefit is that the assessment process is considerably less tiresome for the academics. There appears to be vast potential for transferability of this method to many different applications, disciplines and age groups, but while the idea may sound attractive to many lecturers, it marks a significant departure from the norm. The authors have, therefore, created an easily accessible ‘toolkit’ resource that focuses on issues faced by a new adopter based on their own experience and on feedback from staff and students who participated in the pilot projects. The ‘toolkit’ incorporates appropriate resources, including teaching and assessment materials, with example projects taken from the science and engineering subject area