Capturing Undergraduate Experience through Participant - Generated Video

The enrolment and attrition rate in science degrees in the Western world is of increasing concern, both nationally and at university level. At the same time, teaching undergraduate science requires universities to invest in laboratories, staff and equipment to meet the initial demand of enrolling students. In this article, I discuss participant - generated video as an innovative method of research used in a study to extend understanding about the experience of science students’ experience in an Australian university. In this paper, I present the method s and practices used to explore the experience of a selected number of undergraduate science students, using a phenomenological approach. Students used video cameras to record their daily experiences and their commentaries on these over the course of a semester. This method of data collection presented interesting issues related to ethics, the underlying organization of the design, and the way the students engaged as participant - researchers. The results of the study showed that the method of participant - generated video data collection educated the students on aspects of research ethics involving human subjects and on reflecting on meaning, which enabled the students to present powerful insights into their own experience.