Workflow for designing instructional videos to support place-based geoscience education for geoscience majors

Abstract Geographic context is important for Earth Science education but different places have different geological complexities and effectively establishing geoscientific context can be difficult. Well-designed videos can help geoscience educators introduce geologically significant places to undergraduate geoscience students. However, there is no established framework to guide geoscientists who want to create instructional videos for place-based geoscience education. In this commentary, we share a framework including writing a narrative and generating visual materials as well as considering key psychological principles and universal design elements to improve geoscience video effectiveness. The design framework was created based on the place-based education framework, salient elements of cognitive theory of multimedia learning, and the framework of motivational design. More design recommendations were given by summarizing our experience of making and assessing a 6-minute geosicence video about the Permian Basin of W. Texas and SE New Mexico and other best practice of making the same type of videos in peer reviewed articles. We find that well-designed geoscience videos can improve geoscience majors’ knowledge about local geology and understanding of connections between place and people. The generalized video-making workflow and design recommendations can help geoscientists make their own geoscientific videos for undergraduates.