Grasping the social through movies

Abstract

In Turkey, one of the major challenges that university education faces is the indifference of young people towards social issues. The aim of this article is to contribute to the practice of critical pedagogy by proposing that showing movies is an important critical teaching method with the power both to give pleasure to the students and to develop their interest in crucial social issues. To support our argument, we showed three movies to students taking Sociology and Social Psychology courses in three successive academic terms on the topics 'the death penalty', 'gender equality' and 'prejudice'. Analysing the essays which the students were asked to write on these movies, we observed growing interest and an increase in critical thinking on the issues in question. We then conducted a survey to test this change quantitatively. The results indicate that showing movies is very influential in helping students to develop an interest and critical perspective. ©2011 Taylor & Francis

Using humorous images to lighten the learning experience through questioning in class

“…Moreover, Tuch, Roth, Hornbæk, Opwis, and Bargas‐Avila () and Um et al (2012) pointed out that showing images with bright or warm colors can stir up positive emotions in students, and other researchers have described how the use of multimedia materials can affect emotions in the learning process. For example, Fehim Kennedy, Senses, and Ayan () noted that students will derive a great deal of enjoyment from being exposed to multimedia learning materials, such as videos, and this is considered to be a positive emotion (Crawford & Henry, ). Similarly, a study by Kennedy, Senses, and Ayan () showed that the use of multimedia content in class (such as a video clips) gives students pleasure that helps increase their interest in a subject, and also increases the degree to which they engage in critical thinking.…”

“…For example, Fehim Kennedy, Senses, and Ayan () noted that students will derive a great deal of enjoyment from being exposed to multimedia learning materials, such as videos, and this is considered to be a positive emotion (Crawford & Henry, ). Similarly, a study by Kennedy, Senses, and Ayan () showed that the use of multimedia content in class (such as a video clips) gives students pleasure that helps increase their interest in a subject, and also increases the degree to which they engage in critical thinking.…”

“…More specifically, the theory of self‐efficacy claims that inducing a positive mood in people enhances their perceived sense of self‐efficacy (p. 111). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the funny images shown to students giving the correct answers will trigger a positive mood during class (Kennedy et al , ; Nittono, Fukushima, Yano, & Moriya, ). Furthermore, students who are induced to have positive feelings can also see improved task performance and increased attention (Nittono et al , ).…”

Teaching Behavioral Science to Business Students through Films

“…Use of visual stimuli is very valuable in education and as a result integrating films into the classrooms give educators the opportunity to supplement and enhance their teaching and the not so easy theoretical concepts to be better understood by their students. The practice of using film to enhance university level education to enhance teaching techniques is used in many countries (Anwary, 2003;Brown, 2011;Johnston, 2001).…”

Teaching Method and Effect on Learning Piagetian Concepts

“…The difficulty in replicating a real classroom environment with strict experimental controls has challenged many researchers in this area. Pedagogical studies have been conducted on a variety of subjects within the field of psychology including family systems (Alexander & Waxman, 2000), psychotherapeutic techniques (Hesley & Helsey, 1998;McNeilly & Wengel, 2001), and social psychology (Kennedy, Şenses, & Ayan, 2011). Many studies do not use random assignment or attempt to control for extraneous variables, thus lowering the internal validity of the studies (e.g., Badura, 2002;Christopher, Walter, Marek, & Koenig, 2004;Paddock, Terranova, & Giles, 2001).…”