Expert explanations via video: The key to unlocking scientific journal articles for university students?

Scientific research papers are complex, dense, and filled with jargon, so traditionally the valuable knowledge they contain has been accessible to only a handful of experts. SAGE publishing, one of the world’s largest academic publishers, and Dr. Adam Frost, a cognitive neuroscientist, independently created video formats that help scientists directly communicate their discoveries and practices in approachable ways so that that knowledge can reach a much wider audience. Both SAGE and Dr. Frost designed these videos to help train new scientists to understand complex scientific documents, which is a very difficult task that has stood as a barrier to careers in the sciences for many promising students. These video explanations, delivered by the same scientists who conducted the original research, should substantially improve learning outcomes for the students who view them, but since this is a new solution to a longstanding problem, it needs to be validated. With this project, we deploy these videos in a large psychology course at the University of Toronto and collect data throughout to measure how they impact student learning, which is contributing to both the theory and practice of science education.

Faculty Supervisor:

Steve Joordens

Student:

Partner:

SAGE Publishing

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

University of Toronto

Program: