Blog Three: Sparking creativity with stop-motion animation

Stop-motion animations are videos made up of many photos edited together. The composer manipulates their characters, props and setting between each photo which creates the effects that inanimate objects are moving on their own. This animation technique is appropriate for students of all ages when simplistic and effective programs like Stop Motion Studio are employed, and promotes valuable learning especially in the K-6 Science and Technology Syllabus (Wishart, 2017; Farrokhnia et al., 2020; NESA, 2017).

Stop-motion animations are used to “support sharing, constructing, and representing knowledge” across all content strands in the science syllabus (Farrokhnia et al., 2020, p. 1). Across multiple studies, researchers found that incorporating stop-motion animation encourages students to be more critical of their procedure and final product, which promotes reflect on task-appropriateness in the creative process (Wishart, 2017; Farrokhnia et al., 2020; O’Byrne et al., 2018; Beghetto & Kaufman, 2013). Furthermore, by giving students the opportunity to explore different ways to portray and connect ideas, educators are building students’ knowledge of how content outcomes connect and building their Working Scientifically skill of “communication” (O’Byrne et al., 2018, NESA, 2017).

For example, students in stage three learn about “how the environment affects the growth, survival and adaptation of living things ST3-4LW-S” in the Living World strand of the Science and Technology Syllabus (NESA, 2017, p. 79). After conducting research as a class, students can be placed into groups to produce a stop-motion animation that depicts the impact of an environmental change on a specific species. Using stop-motion animation builds students’ empathy towards the impacted species and encourages them to find unique ways to portray their learned content.

Stop-motion animation platforms like Stop Motion Studio are free and easy to use, making them accessible in classrooms with digital devices like tablets. Placing students in groups reduces the pedagogical burden of managing off-task behaviour on digital technologies since less devices are used. Students can also use editing technologies like Adobe Photoshop and Canva to create characters or back-drops for their video. Programs like iMovie and Canva’ video editor can be employed to add sound and other effects to the video. By encouraging students to draw on their knowledge of other digital technologies, educators promote the innovative integration of different tools and achieve more variety in the final products from each group.

References

Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of creativity. Educational leadership,

70(5), 10-15.

Farrokhnia, M., Meulenbroeks, R. F., & van Joolingen, W. R. (2020). Student-generated stop-

motion animation in science classes: A systematic literature review. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 29, 797-812.

NESA (2017). Science and Technology K-6 syllabus. Retrieved from

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning- areas/technologies/science-and-technology-k-6-new-syllabus

O'Byrne, W. I., Radakovic, N., Hunter-Doniger, T., Fox, M., Kern, R., & Parnell, S. (2018).

Designing Spaces for Creativity and Divergent Thinking: Pre-Service Teachers Creating Stop Motion Animation on Tablets. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 6(2), 182-199.

Wishart, J. (2017). Exploring how creating stop-motion animations supports student teachers

in learning to teach science. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 49(1-2), 88-101.