Teaching Bioethics via the Production ofStudent-generated Videos

There is growing recognition that science is not conducted in a vacuum and that advances in the bioscienceshave ethical and social implications for the wider community. An exercise is described in whichundergraduate students work in teams to produce short videos about the science and ethical dimensionsof current developments in biomedicine. This activity has resulted in the generation of a large numberof introductory films on a range of contemporary issues in medically related biology. The best videosare made freely available on the internet for use by any interested party. In this way, the students arenot only learning about the issues for themselves, but are also producing valuable resources for enhancingpublic understanding of the science and ethics relating to newsworthy innovations. This task couldbe readily adapted for use with a broader range of topics with students in both secondary and tertiaryeducation