Examining student-created documentaries as a mechanism for engaging students in authentic intellectual work

Over the last several decades, social studies educators' interest and emphasis on integrating technology into teaching has increased significantly. One promising area of inquiry focuses on the benefits of student-produced digital video. A number of researchers assert that student-produced digital videos provide a variety of benefits, including increases in student motivation and engagement, creative classroom opportunities, and opportunities for more authentic learning experiences. Fewer researchers, however, have explored student learning outcomes from documentary projects. In this article, the authors analyzed a set of student-created digital documentary projects constructed in a standards-based, 8th-grade U.S. history classroom. They holistically examined the level of authentic intellectual work evident in students' projects throughout each stage of the process. The authors found that the students demonstrated a moderate-to-significant degree of authentic intellectual work in creating their own documentary films.