Over the summer, Mark Johnson, Assistant to the Dean for Academic Technology for the College of Sciences, was approached by an Illinois high school to produce films on some chemistry experiments. Little did he know this would lead to an extensive first-time grant project opportunity for CATS.
The high school was thankful and ecstatic about the work produced. Around the time of its completion the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) was seeking a university to assist with producing a series of videos for core curriculums new model math and English Language Arts (ELA). The chemistry group that Johnson worked with earlier in the year referred the CATS Digital and Multimedia team to the IPA and in return, the IPA contacted Johnson about interest in the grant project.
Johnson collaborated with Pete Grant, Director of Digital and Multimedia Services, and Cameron Craig, Geographer and Professor in the Department of Geology/Geography, to write up the ultimately accepted proposal. Craig serves as the project lead, Grant is the administrative lead, Johnson takes photos of the events, and Rhonda Brotherton, Administrative Aide for CATS, is the budget administrator. Johnson, Grant and Craig then selected a group of Tempestas et Caelum (Craig’s film company) students and Digital and Multimedia graduate assistants and students to create an IPA project team.
The team began filming in September and has visited about 10 Illinois locations. During filming, Craig is teaching students how to shoot properly as Johnson photographs the event. The students film class lectures, pre- and post-interviews with instructors, interviews with principals, and interviews with students about their teachers and how they are dealing with model math.
Once filming is finished, footage is brought back for Grant to make available for review by IPA members. Then the students, who are each assigned a video, will begin editing the 2-3 hours of footage down to 10-minute pieces. Each school will have its own 10-minute segment. The whole project will wrap up around April 2015.
This project provides the students with great real world experience on how things get done on a project. It has also allowed the team to purchase some new equipment to assist them with the project. “We have had some great collaboration and team building with traveling and staying at hotels with the students learning about each other,” Grant added.
After the grant project is completed, they are hoping to continue more grant work by turning it into a documentary. If they are able to complete big projects in the fall and spring, they can hopefully use it to finance the expedition projects.
“This is all about integrative and applied learning for the students”, Grant added. “Ultimately, Mark, Cameron, and myself wouldn’t do this if there was no benefit for the students.”
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