Interest is key to learning. Video is a promising tool for interest development in education, but professionals in education are in need of more theory-grounded guidance for production, selection,... Show moreInterest is key to learning. Video is a promising tool for interest development in education, but professionals in education are in need of more theory-grounded guidance for production, selection, and use of videos. In previous studies, we developed and validated a model on film’s interest raising mechanisms in educational contexts, called the FIRM model. In the qualitative study reported here, we used the model to explain how pupils’ appraisals of video characteristics relate to their interest in the video. We evaluated the use of five videos in seven 12th-grade science and mathematics classrooms (177 pupils). We measured interest at scene level and grouped pupils on general interest. We performed video analyses, case studies (N = 5), and a cross-case analysis. Our findings resulted in three relationships between appraisals and interest, regarding the video’s complexity level and the pupils’ knowledge level, pupils’ recognition of video categories, and pupils’ expectations of videos. Show less
Film has been used for education ever since educators recognized its powerful potential for learning. But its educational application has been criticized throughout the decades for underuse of the... Show moreFilm has been used for education ever since educators recognized its powerful potential for learning. But its educational application has been criticized throughout the decades for underuse of the distinctive potential of film: to raise interest. To understand more fully film's potential for learning, we propose a dynamic model of viewer interest and its underlying cognitive and emotional mechanisms (film's interest raising mechanisms or FIRM model). In addition, we present an analysis method for assessing the interestingness of films in learning contexts. Our model marries interest theories from cognitive film theory and educational psychology and captures the dynamics of interestingness across a film as depending on a balance between challenge posed and coping potential provided. Show less
