The Academic Commons Magazine

September 2009

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In this issue, Academic Commons and the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) join forces to provide the liberal arts community with an opportunity to share and discuss the details that make a difference. The five case studies presented here closely examine how practitioners developed specific projects and collaborations and explore the lessons learned along the way. In these challenging times, innovation is all the more critical.

From the Archives

Producing Audiovisual Knowledge: Documentary Video Production and Student Learning in the American Studies Classroom

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Traditionally, academic institutions have segregated multimedia production from disciplinary study. Bernie Cook wondered what his American Studies students would learn from working collaboratively to produce documentary films based on primary sources, and what he in turn might find out about their learning in the process. Students created documentary films on local history, and wrote reflections on their creative and critical process. Not only did students report tremendous engagement with the topics and sources for their projects, they also indicated satisfaction at being able to screen their work for an audience. By allowing his students to become producers of content, Cook enables them to participate fully in the intellectual work of American Studies and Film Studies.