Molder Amanda L, Howell Emily, Goodwin Sarah, Behrman Shannon, Mathews Stephanie
UW Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Science Communication Lab, Berkeley, California, USA.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2025 Apr 24;26(1):e0022724. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00227-24. Epub 2025 Mar 25.
Improving perceptions of students' science identities and their understanding of the nature of science (NOS) are important learning goals for undergraduate biology students. Previous research has observed that students who reflect on personal histories and research narratives of diverse scientists experience positive changes in their own science identities and understanding of the nature of science, respectively. However, these stories were in written or mixed media formats (e.g., podcasts, TED talks). Here, we explore whether such stories in nonfiction film, an immersive storytelling medium, could also serve as an intervention in positively affecting these outcomes. The focus of our curricular intervention is two short films that explore personal histories and research narratives: Decoding Ancestral Knowledge and CRISPR Apostle. We assigned students ( = 286) in a large, asynchronous, online general microbiology course to watch Decoding and CRISPR at distinct times in the semester. Immediately after watching each film, students took a survey with closed- and open-response questions designed to measure content knowledge, science identity, and NOS learning. We analyzed quantitative responses using descriptive statistics and open-ended responses using a computational textual analysis method of structured topic modeling. Results indicate that watching the films had a considerable impact on content knowledge as well as students' perceptions of scientists, self-identification as scientists, and understanding of NOS. Interestingly, there were some differences between the films on the degree of impact on science identity as well as the types of emergent themes for science identity and NOS. These results suggest that science nonfiction films with personal histories and research narratives can be useful tools in supporting these student outcomes. We describe in this article how to access these free materials, including the films, and also suggest possible modifications.
提升学生对科学身份的认知以及他们对科学本质（NOS）的理解，是本科生物学专业学生重要的学习目标。先前的研究发现，反思不同科学家的个人经历和研究故事的学生，其自身的科学身份认知和对科学本质的理解分别发生了积极变化。然而，这些故事是以书面或混合媒体形式呈现的（如播客、TED演讲）。在此，我们探讨非虚构电影这种沉浸式叙事媒介中的此类故事，是否也能作为一种干预手段，对这些结果产生积极影响。我们课程干预的重点是两部探索个人经历和研究故事的短片：《解码祖传知识》和《CRISPR使徒》。我们将一门大型的异步在线普通微生物学课程中的286名学生分成不同组，让他们在学期中的不同时间观看《解码》和《CRISPR》。在观看每部影片后，学生们立即进行了一项包含封闭式和开放式问题的调查，旨在测量内容知识、科学身份和科学本质学习情况。我们使用描述性统计分析定量回答，使用结构化主题建模的计算文本分析方法分析开放式回答。结果表明，观看影片对内容知识以及学生对科学家的认知、自我认同为科学家的程度和对科学本质的理解都有相当大的影响。有趣的是，两部影片在对科学身份的影响程度以及科学身份和科学本质的新兴主题类型方面存在一些差异。这些结果表明，包含个人经历和研究故事的科学非虚构电影可以成为支持这些学生学习成果的有用工具。我们在本文中描述了如何获取这些免费材料，包括影片，还提出了可能的修改建议。
