Phylm: Make a film about physics!

Phylm /’film/ n. [physics + film]

The fifth annual Phylm Prize is now open! Until May 13, anyone can enter a film — though students are especially encouraged — about physics. Year three’s winners were a set of students with the Special Relativity Rap. The second year was Science Made Fun about black holes (which I’ve inserted below), and year one was a kind of crazy video with a guy breaking flaming boards with his hand, using the Leidenfrost effect. When you drop water into a skillet and the beads dance across the surface — that’s the Leidenfrost effect. The beads of water are insulated from the hot pan because the liquid evaporates before it boils, creating a vapor layer that insulates the rest of the water from the pan. Anyway…

Last year they had a tie for first place, from Henry Reich’s Minute Physics and Derek Muller’s Veritasium.com.  Both are part of a larger set of videos — check them out.  These could be useful for people wanting to do some version, even a small-scale version, of the Flipped Classroom.  Below is one of the winning videos, from Derek Muller, on misconceptions about why astronauts float.  I think this is brilliant.

Interestingly, Derek Muller even has a short video on the Khan Academy (see it here).  He’s clearly well-versed in the physics education literature, and very thoughtful about what works and what doesn’t.  Here’s what he says about Khan (which has been drawing a lot of mixed reviews in the physics education community):

It is a common view that “if only someone could break this down and explain it clearly enough, more students would understand.” Khan Academy is a great example of this approach with its clear, concise videos on science. However it is debatable whether they really work. Research has shown that these types of videos may be positively received by students. They feel like they are learning and become more confident in their answers, but tests reveal they haven’t learned anything. The apparent reason for the discrepancy is misconceptions. Students have existing ideas about scientific phenomena before viewing a video. If the video presents scientific concepts in a clear, well illustrated way, students believe they are learning but they do not engage with the media on a deep enough level to realize that what was is presented differs from their prior knowledge. There is hope, however. Presenting students’ common misconceptions in a video alongside the scientific concepts has been shown to increase learning by increasing the amount of mental effort students expend while watching it.

I’m curious about the research studies that he’s referring to.  Does anybody know more?

Regarding the Phylm prize, what I really like about this is the blending of science with art and communication. There’s just no better way to learn something than to create something that attempts to teach about it, and I think that “edutainment” about science is really fun and worthwhile. There are lots of things that can be done in media to bring out the beauty, intrigue, and weirdness of science.

Here are the rules to enter the contest.

Here is a curricular unit for physics teachers that focuses on how to make a short phylm.

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