Tag Archives: instructional

Use Video to Augment Your Scholarly Pubs

Posted on by

In recent posts, I’ve been providing reasons why scientists might want to use videography to draw attention to their scholarly articles and to meet funding requirements.

I pointed out how the National Science Foundation and other science funding agencies expect scientists to develop outreach products and activities that inform a wider audience about the value of their science and to generally increase the public’s understanding of science (the Broader Impacts criterion).  I also showed how videos and images can put your scholarly article at the top of a Google search page, when your text-based document is buried on page 43.

Journals are also increasingly using video to illustrate methods or to visually show the results of a study they’ve published.  Such videos, which are often included in the supplementary online material, are linked to your published article on the journal webpage where specialists in your field will see it. Videos can also make your article and work more visible to students and others who may be searching for information on the topic using Google or other search engines. If you have the only video on the Web on your topic, it is going to be ranked high on the Google search page (see this post for an example of how this works).

In the current post, I provide an example of a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that was accompanied by supplemental online material, including three videos illustrating their results.  The paper is titled, “3D Imaging and Mechanical Modeling of Helical Buckling in Medicago truncatula Plant Roots“.  The authors conducted a study of how the roots of the plant behave when they encounter a layer that is more resistant to penetration, a common occurrence in some soils.  They were able to view the change in root growth pattern by using a clear gel as a growth medium. Two gel layers were created, the lower one being of a stiffer consistency than the upper one.  The roots grew normally, that is, straight down, when in the upper layer.  However, when the plant roots encountered the more resistant gel layer, they began to curl and form into a helical shape.  This “helical buckling” provided more force at the root tip, which helped it penetrate the more resistant material.  Their modeling of the mechanics of root growth patterns predicted this greater force when roots grew in this helical manner.

This work showing how plant roots manage to grow through tough layers of material was illustrated using 3D imaging.  Below is a 3D, time-lapse video of the growth of a root through the upper, less resistant layer and then through the lower layer that caused the root to buckle and curl into a helical shape.

And here’s another example of a video done to accompany a paper published in the journal, Coral Reefs:

The paper that the above video illustrates is titled “The Use of Tools by Wrasses (Labridae)“.  The video shows a fish cracking open a bivalve by throwing it against a large coral head.  Although the video needed some close-up views of the action, it does get across the idea in a short visual clip (2 minutes).  On YouTube, the video has been viewed over 40,000 times.

Both of these examples illustrate how you can use video to augment your journal articles as supplementary online material on the journal website or on your own website.

Some journal publishers are now able to accept video embedded into the online article in a similar manner as photos, graphs, or tables.  Here is a link to an article in the journal, Cell, that has embedded video in the online version of the paper.

Having a video available to illustrate your research can often get your paper highlighted in the news section of the online journal.  For example, here is a link to a video reconstruction of the skull of Australopithecus sebida.  There is also a podcast with the author on the same webpage.

By having audio-visual components associated with your print or online articles, your work will be more visible to search engines, and journals are more likely to select your article to highlight on their webpage.

References:

Bernardi, G.  2012.  The use of tools by wrasses (Labridae).  Coral Reefs 31 (1): 39. DOI: 10.1007/s00338-011-0823-6

Nonaka, S. et al.  1998.  Randomization of lef-right asymmetry due to loss of nodal cilia generating leftward flow of extraembryonic fluid in mice lacking KIF3B motor protein.  Cell 95 (6): 829-837.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81705-5

Silverberg, J.L. et al.  2012.  3D imaging and mechanical modeling of helical buckling in Medicago truncatula plant roots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online (before print). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1209287109

Are Your Science Videos Understandable by a Diverse Audience?

Posted on by

Scientists sometimes have difficulty explaining their work in everyday language that most people can understand.  How do you know if the language you are using in your videos or other science communication products are comprehensible by a 10th grader, for example?

Most word processing programs have an option that allows an assessment of the “readability” of the text in a document.  The science videographer can make use of this tool to check and modify the language you plan to use in your video project….essentially tailor it to a target audience.  This tutorial shows how to turn this option on and how to use it to revise a technical explanation so that it is understandable by a broader audience (for best viewing, select the HD version and full-screen options (see menu bar at bottom of player window):

View or download the entire script for the video here (click the arrow at the top of the document window for full page view):

Download (PDF, 32KB)

How to Make Your Science Video Memorable

Posted on by

You want to make sure the information in your science video (or other science communication product) is remembered. This video describes several ways to ensure that the content of your video is remembered (for best viewing, select the HD version and full-screen options (see menu bar at bottom of player window):

View or download the transcript of the video here (just select the arrow to see it full screen).                                                                                                                                           

Download (PDF, 24KB)

One of the biggest obstacles for scientists is explaining our work in everyday language. How do you know if you are succeeding?  In the next post, I describe a tool that will allow you to quantify the readability/understandability of your language.

How to Capture Your Video Audience’s Attention

Posted on by

When designing your video and developing your storyboard, you want to ensure that it will ultimately attract attention.  Here are a number of ways to capture and keep your viewer’s attention, starting with the one I described in the previous post (be sure to select the HD version and the full screen option for best viewing):

View or download the transcript for this video:

Download (PDF, 23KB)

How to Make Your Science Video Appeal to a Diverse Audience: Find the Core Idea and Express It Simply

Posted on by

Science videos, especially those created by scientists, often suffer from what I call “Too Many Ideas”.  Come to think of it, many proposals I get to review also suffer from this malady.  The problem is that the videographer or scientist doesn’t identify or focus on a central question or core idea. Instead, they ramble all over the place, introducing several competing ideas within a broad topic (and usually don’t address any of them very well).

It’s much better to select a primary question that can be clearly answered. Secondary information can be introduced, but it should relate to the core idea of your project. Let’s take a specific example. Perhaps you are a scientist and would like to create a short video about your research on coral bleaching.  Your body of work perhaps entails several lines of inquiry, including spatial and temporal patterns of bleaching in relation to ocean warming, coral species susceptibility, anthropogenic factors, effects on reef-dependent fishes, and other topics.  What is the core question that the average person is most likely to want answered?  They most likely want to know what coral bleaching is and what causes it.  A good video for a broad audience would focus on this main question and clearly answer it. Here is one that does just that and additionally includes suggestions as to how the viewer might help prevent coral bleaching.

Or perhaps you conduct research on leaf pigments such as chlorophyll, anthocyanins, or carotenoids.What might be a good core idea or question that would appeal to a diverse audience?  How about: Why do leaves change color in the fall?  Here’s an excellent educational video that answers this question:

So, the first tip for making a science video appeal to a diverse audience is to focus on a core idea or key question and express it simply.