Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
News

Across More Classes, Videos Make the Grade

In some science and writing courses, final papers are giving way to multimedia

By Jeffrey R. Young May 8, 2011
Susan Metros, associate vice provost at Southern Cal: Multi­media “means you have to be able to actually make” graphics and images.
Susan Metros, associate vice provost at Southern Cal: Multimedia “means you have to be able to actually make” graphics and images.David Zentz for The Chronicle

Film students aren’t the only ones producing videos for homework these days. Professors teaching courses in writing, geology, forensics, sociology, anthropology, foreign languages, and many other disciplines now assign video projects, pushing students to make arguments formatted for the YouTube age.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Film students aren’t the only ones producing videos for homework these days. Professors teaching courses in writing, geology, forensics, sociology, anthropology, foreign languages, and many other disciplines now assign video projects, pushing students to make arguments formatted for the YouTube age.

So far the trend exists mainly among tech-savvy professors, though in some cases students asked to write traditional papers are lobbying to turn in video essays instead.

Now a few colleges and universities are considering adding video-making to a list of core skills required for graduation. Recording may take its place among the age-old R’s of education: reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic.

I found that the University of Southern California is one institution pondering camera-happy measures.

“We want all of our students that graduate from USC to have a signature experience that includes multimedia,” says Susan E. Metros, associate vice provost and associate CIO for technology-enhanced learning. The goal, she argues, is to prepare students for today’s highly visual communication landscape, and to push them to think more critically about the videos they consume.

However, Ms. Metros also told me that the university has yet to figure out exactly how to do this. “We want it to be campuswide, and we want it to be something that is part of the curriculum, but we don’t know how yet.” Among the options being discussed: Adding a required course in which students make digital videos; or asking all undergraduates to complete a capstone multimedia project.

“It used to be that ‘multimedia literacy’ meant that you just needed to be able to understand graphics or images,” Ms. Metros said. “Now there’s a sea change, and it means you have to be able to actually make them.”

Tools to produce videos now travel in almost every student’s backpack. More than 89 percent of students at four-year colleges own laptops, according to the latest data from Student Monitor, and today most laptops come equipped with a built-in Web camera and easy-to-use video-editing software. And the latest smartphones feature cameras and video-editing software as well. About once a month, my sister-in-law e-mails me videos from her iPhone 4 of my niece and nephew goofing around.

“The creation of video and the publishing of video is getting to the point where it’s almost as easy as creating a written assignment,” says Kyle D. Bowen, Purdue University’s director of informatics. And he’s trying to make it even easier: He recently helped design an iPhone app to let students submit video assignments to their professors.

Professors who have assigned videos say that students are enthusiastic—but that though they may fancy themselves young Steven Spielbergs, they often turn in schlocky, B-movie fare. And even professors are still trying to figure out what makes a good academic argument in video form.

Movies About Issues

Michael Fosmire, associate professor of library science at Purdue University, recently started assigning video homework for a survey course he helps teach called “Great Issues in Science and Society,” a required course for science majors.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 80 students in the class divide up in groups of four to write a white paper proposing policy on a scientific issue, such as supporting wind energy. Then they must produce a “persuasive yet accurate” short video to build momentum for their policy, says Mr. Fosmire.

The professor says he has been surprised by how much time and energy the students invest in the videos, which have included mock newscasts and send-ups of popular sitcoms.

Several other courses at Purdue ask students to shoot and edit video as well, including a forensics course and—this one is a natural—a course on American Sign Language. A distance-education course in public speaking requires students to not only film themselves giving a talk, but to recruit a small audience to watch them. As Mr. Bowen put it, “You can’t do public speaking if you’re not speaking publicly.”

There are some drawbacks, though. Many professors do not feel comfortable making videos, much less grading student footage. And students often focus on adding glitzy effects rather than doing research and crafting an argument, says Elizabeth Losh, director of academic programs for the Culture, Art, and Technology program at the University of California at San Diego, who has assigned videos for several years in her media-studies courses.

ADVERTISEMENT

Many students think “all they need is something that’s got some visual sizzle, and they don’t need to address the kinds of research objectives that you might want them to address,” she says.

At USC, officials have set up a center where non-film majors can go to get help crafting videos for classes. It’s called the Institute for Multimedia Literacy. Among recent projects: a geology class that asked students to make short documentaries instead of writing term papers.

Visual Competency

To Holly Willis, director of academic programs for the center, video is only one aspect of what she considers multimedia literacy, which can also include other forms of digital communication, including audio and interactive presentations. “For us, it’s really being able to communicate effectively in a networked culture,” she says.

Some colleges, including the University of Cincinnati, have revised their statements of “general education core competencies” to include “oral and visual communication” in addition to writing skills. Video assignments are one way to achieve that goal.

ADVERTISEMENT

Librarians are also stepping in to define what they call “visual literacy.” The Association of College and Research Libraries recently drafted visual-literacy standards, the first time the group has issued such guidelines. They include a call to encourage students to “design and create meaningful images and visual media.”

Even when colleges aren’t asking for videos, students are diving in on their own. One self-taught student video blogger from Villanova University, for instance, has scored 50 million views of her playful videos on Japanese culture. Perhaps professors can help make those homemade videos better.

College 2.0 covers how new technologies are changing colleges.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Technology
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Portrait of Jeff Young
About the Author
Jeffrey R. Young
Jeffrey R. Young was a senior editor and writer focused on the impact of technology on society, the future of education, and journalism innovation. He led a team at The Chronicle of Higher Education that explored new story formats. He is currently managing editor of EdSurge.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Illustration showing a letter from the South Carolina Secretary of State over a photo of the Bob Jones University campus.
Missing Files
Apparent Paperwork Error Threatens Bob Jones U.'s Legal Standing in South Carolina
Pro-Palestinian student protesters demonstrate outside Barnard College in New York on February 27, 2025, the morning after pro-Palestinian student protesters stormed a Barnard College building to protest the expulsion last month of two students who interrupted a university class on Israel. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
A College Vows to Stop Engaging With Some Student Activists to Settle a Lawsuit Brought by Jewish Students
LeeNIHGhosting-0709
Stuck in limbo
The Scientists Who Got Ghosted by the NIH
Protesters attend a demonstration in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, March 10, 2025, in New York.
First-Amendment Rights
Noncitizen Professors Testify About Chilling Effect of Others’ Detentions

From The Review

Vector illustration of a suited man with a pair of scissors for a tie and an American flag button on his lapel.
The Review | Opinion
A Damaging Endowment Tax Crosses the Finish Line
By Phillip Levine
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky
Photo-based illustration depicting a close-up image of a mouth of a young woman with the letter A over the lips and grades in the background
The Review | Opinion
When Students Want You to Change Their Grades
By James K. Beggan

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin