A practical guide to student videography

Although management, organizational behavior, change, and leadership are behavioral sciences, these subjects are commonly taught in a behaviorally-free manner. Interventions that bring behaviors into the classroom include role-plays, workshops, and some forms of experiential learning. Such teaching approaches require expert facilitation and often a lot of resources. Over the past five years, we have been exploring simpler but equally effective ways to bring behavior into our classrooms by usingstudent videography. In this context, videography is defined as student filmmaking. We have found this approach is well received by students and applicable to a wide range of management, organizational behavior, change and leadership topics.

In this PDW we will review the lessons we have learned trying to bring behavior into our classrooms using videography. In short, we have developed four different strategies reflecting the nature of the equipment deployed. First, we look at how students can make films incorporating existing footage. Second, we will look at teaching approaches where students are asked to use their own equipment. Then we look at the possibilities using ‘amateur’ level equipment. And finally, we explore the behavioral teaching opportunities using ‘professional’ level equipment. Ouroverarching goal for the PDW will be to showcase students’ work and interactively discuss how these results were achieved with clear practical advice for those wishing to replicate this approach to teaching.