Chemical Anthropomorphism: Acting Out General Chemistry Concepts in Social Media Videos Facilitates Student-Centered Learning and Public Engagement

Abstract

This article describes the educational and public engagement outcomes of an activity called the “ChemClout Challenge” that was implemented in a general chemistry course at UC Riverside. Students worked in groups to make chemistry-themed videos, posted them to social media platforms, then voted on their favorite videos. The majority of students elected to make videos where they anthropomorphized general chemistry concepts, physically acting out principles such as ideal gas law relationships and electrolyte solubility. Students reported enjoying these anthropomorphized videos most. These types of videos received over one million views worldwide within the first month of posting on the social media platform, TikTok. After the course was over, 75 students completed voluntary Likert scale surveys to assess the educational and outreach impact of the ChemClout Challenge. Eighty-eight percent of students reported that the activity made chemistry more relatable, whereas 76% of students noted that the activity helped them retain course concepts two months after the course was completed, indicating the activity benefitted student learning. Moreover, 84% of students reported that their friends and family members outside of UC Riverside watched the videos, with 72% of students reporting that they explained the chemical concepts of their videos to their friends. These studies indicate that student-created social media videos that anthropomorphize chemistry are highly effective vectors for student-centered learning and public engagement in chemical concepts. This activity may find particular utility for educators during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is compatible with distance learning.

Social Media and Primary School Science: Examining the Impact of Tiktok on Year 5 Students' Performance in Light Energy

“…Mitra et al (2010) reported that the use of videos in learning encourages active and deeper learning. Moreover, Hight et al (2021) found that using chemistry-themed videos helped students retain instructional concepts. Since TikTok is used by most older children, incorporating it into education has the potential to motivate them to learn.…”

“…The duration of this multimedia is 10 to 15 seconds. It has the potential to enhance teaching and learning due to its worldwide coverage (Hayes et al, 2020), easy accessibility (Hight et al, 2021), sustenance of student interests (Yang, 2020), and helps students develop IT soft skills (Baytak et al, 2011;Cintang et al, 2017). It nurtures student interest in science learning and creates an environment for spontaneous learning inside and outside the classroom (Nwanekezi & Kalu, 2012).…”

How Technologies Assisted Science Learning at Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…More broadly, the importance of social media on youth has been studied for around a decade (Van Den Beemt et al , 2020 ). Some interesting findings include that, for example, acting out chemistry concepts in social media videos facilitates student learning (Hight et al , 2021 ). Another important issue from the social point of view is the need for a balance between practical work and work in computers, as the latter cannot be the only source of learning (Leung and Cheng, 2021 ).…”

The Effectiveness of Teacher Support for Students’ Learning of Artificial Intelligence Popular Science Activities

“…Currently, some popular science activities are promoted in the form of short courses. Because of time constraints, instructors are unable to fully impart science knowledge and guide inquiry and hands-on activities (Hight et al, 2021;Shu et al, 2021). Therefore, there is a paucity of information on whether popular science activities of short duration (a few hours) can help students achieve learning outcomes and motivate them for science studies.…”