Blog Posts About: study

Over the past ten years, I've written hundreds of scripts for explainer videos and if there is one thing I've learned, it's this: the act of writing the script and trying to explain an idea for others teaches me more about the subject than anything else I can do. My understanding doesn't become clear until the ideas in my head make the jump to the script, where I'm forced to present them logically.

This process of writing explanations in order to understand them better is also known as the Feynman Technique. Richard Feynman was known as The Great Explainer thanks to his talent for transforming complex scientific information into easy to understand models and ideas. The 1.5-minute video below summarizes the technique.

A recent study, summarized by Christian Jarrett at the BPS Research Digest, provides more evidence of what this why this practice works, based on a study of 124 students:

For a new study in Applied Cognitive Psychology researchers led by Aloysius Wei Lun Koh set out to test their theory that teaching improves the teacher’s learning because it compels the teacher to retrieve what they’ve previously studied. In other words, they believe the learning benefit of teaching is simply another manifestation of the well-known “testing effect” – the way that bringing to mind what we’ve previously studied leads to deeper and longer-lasting acquisition of that information than more time spent passively re-studying.

They found the students who performed best at understanding and remembering a new subject were the ones who learned the subject and then taught it to others.

Why does this matter? Because anyone can use this practice to increase their understanding of a subject. Studying is great. Taking notes is helpful. But if you really want to understand and remember a subject, explain it to someone else. Or, simply pretend that you're writing a letter or video script with the goal of explaining it clearly.

2017 kept us busy on multiple fronts, but few were as exciting as completely redesigning the Common Craft website. I’m writing to share three big additions to Common Craft we think you'll love.

1. Lesson Plans for Teaching with Videos

Our library of 95 videos is most often used in classrooms, training sessions and learning management systems. Instructors play a Common Craft video to set the stage for a discussion or lesson. We wanted to make this process easier, so we created Lesson Plans, like this one, to give you a head start in teaching with these videos.

Common Craft members can now download Lesson Plans for most of our videos. Each Lesson Plan includes:

• Video Intro, Link and Standards (ISTE, ACRL)
• Learning Objectives
• Discussion Questions
• Knowledge Check - Questions and Answers
• Further Reading Resources

You can learn more about our lesson plans here, or download a sample Lesson Plan (PDF)

2. New Video Category: Study Skills

Thanks to member suggestions, our video library has evolved to include videos that focus on navigating intellectual property, research skills, digital literacy and more. We believe these are essential 21st century skills that require clear understanding. Below are a few popular titles from this new category:

• Copyright and Creative Commons
• Primary vs Secondary Sources in Research
• Plagiarism and How to Avoid It
• Website Evaluation

Find the new "Study Skills" category on the video library page.

3. More Cut-outs, More Formats, Easier Access

More Cut-outs: Our library of downloadable visuals, called Cut-outs, is used in presentations, training materials, videos, websites and more. In 2017, the library grew considerably and we now have over 3,100 Cut-outs in the library.

More Formats: You’ll find Cut-outs in three useful formats, available to ALL Common Craft members:

• PNG
• EPS
• SVG (new!)

Easier Access: We’ve also simplified our search tool and created a new directory page that breaks the library out by categories. Yay!

Learn more about using Cut-outs and our DIY Plan or download a one page Fact Sheet (PDF).

The use of videos in education is growing along with the "flipped classroom". A new report by Kaltura helps to put some data behind what many in education are seeing today. Via ReelSEO, here are a few of the highlights of the report:

• 90% of respondents believe that video improves the learning experience, with even basic video tools having a significant impact.
• 57% of respondents agree that flipped classrooms will become a standard teaching method in higher education, with 48% saying that their institutions already practice such.
• 52% of respondents state that video use has been driven from the ‘bottom up’ by faculty.
• 57% of respondents estimate that more than a quarter of their classes already incorporate video content created by faculty.
• 49% of respondents estimate that a typical student watches six to twenty education videos per month.