A story about cows, Nobel prizes, zombies, and Henrik Dam’s bleeding chicken.
How do you make a notoriously difficult, and admittedly a bit dry, biochemical topic such as hemostasis more interesting for the students? Prof. Jens Peter Gøtze wanted to generate pictures the students can remember. Join Jens Peter’s journey on how you can use storytelling and some short videos to make biochemistry fun – and relevant for medical students.
What were the didactical considerations?
The goal of producing three short video sequences was to generate genuine interest in a course module on hemostasis. Hemostasis is notoriously difficult and, admittedly, also a dry biochemical topic. Speaking to young medical doctors in the clinical setting, the teacher Jens Peter Gøtze experienced that the learning outcome seems to be limited, and the young doctors had to be re-trained in the topic. Additionally, Jens Peter set up some hooks to attract students to actually attend the lectures.
Check the videos (in Danish) here:
Hemostasis and anti-coagulative treatment
Hemostasis and von Willebrands disease
Hemostasis and Factor V Leiden syndrome
It’s not just about the cows, chickens, and zombies… in addition to the attempt of making the topic more interesting and memorable for students, the storytelling also relates to knowledge from previous semesters as well as clinical applications, helping continuity and progression.
The approach
Teacher Jens Peter Gøtze contacted COBL to discuss possible formats. The clear aim was using storytelling and narratives that stick. Starting with a relatively modest request for a background picture with grazing cattle, Jens Peter met once with digital media producer Jonas Nilaus Vilhelmsen who took a playful and creative approach to the task at hand. After production, video approval and minor adjustments, the videos are now integrated into the course room on Absalon.
How long did all of this take?
Jens Peter Gøtze had prepared a few keywords, and was otherwise talking freely to the camera in front of a green screen in COBL’s studio located at the CSS campus. The recordings took about an hour. Digital media producer Jonas Nilaus Vilhelmsen used four days for editing and production.
The teacher and the course context
Jens Peter Gøtze is a professor in cardiovascular endocrinology and affiliated with the Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry at Rigshospitalet and the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences at Panum. He teaches the module about blood in the course “Endocrinology, Reproductive System and Blood” for medical students in their 5th semester (bachelor). The videos are used for the first time at the time this article is published, so we will have to wait for the evaluations to learn how students perceived them. Yet, as we hear from Jens Peter he has reached one milestone already – his lectures were extraordinarily well visited…
What does the teacher say about the collaboration?
“It has become a really cool product that I think fits perfectly with my teaching style. The oral presentations have been linked to visuals that are easily recognizable. For example, blood-thinning treatment is now presented as a cow, while vitamin K can be remembered as a bleeding chicken. The collaboration has been highly professional. Everyone should consider the use of other learning aids besides PowerPoint presentations.”