People are visual creatures. So it’s no surprise that many of us learn best through visual means. In fact a study by the Social Science Research Network found that 65 percent of us are visual learners.
That’s why videos are such useful tools in teaching and learning, and that’s why when we came across a new video series called “Reaping the rewards of stem cell research” we were pretty excited. And to be honest there’s an element of self-interest here. The series focuses on letting people know all about the research funded by CIRM.
We didn’t make the videos, a group called Youreka Science is behind them. Nor did we pay for them. That was done by a group called Americans for Cures (the group is headed by Bob Klein who was the driving force behind Proposition 71, the voter-approved initiative that created the stem cell agency). Nonetheless we are happy to help spread the word about them.
The videos are wonderfully simple, involving just an engaging voice, a smart script and some creative artwork on a white board. In this first video they focus on our work in helping fund stem cell therapies for type 1 diabetes.
What is so impressive about the video is its ability to take complex ideas and make them easily understandable. On their website Youreka Science says they have a number of hopes for the videos they produce:
“How empowering would it be for patients to better understand the underlying biology of their disease and learn how new treatments work to fight their illness?
How enlightening would it be for citizens to be part of the discovery process and see their tax dollars at work from the beginning?
How rewarding would it be for scientists to see their research understood and appreciated by the very people that support their work?”
What I love about Youreka Science is that it began almost by chance. A PhD student at the University of California San Francisco was teaching some 5th graders about science and thought it would be really cool to have a way of bringing the textbook to life. So she did. And now we all get to benefit from this delightful approach.
The Stem Cellar 