No Regrets: Changing Your Major
Digital Story
College students are often tasked with the impossible decision of deciding their future path before they even start their first classes. The pressure to decide what the rest of your life will look like is often a daunting task, but this video aims to ease any anxiety associated with the decision making process by sharing three examples of how changing majors was the best choice for these students.
Target audience: High school seniors applying to college; undergraduate students unsure of their degree path
Tools used: Google Drive, Adobe After Effects, iMovie, Keynote, Fuji film DSLR camera, Yeti microphone
Year: 2021
Overview
Students who are looking to enroll or are already enrolled in a college program need to navigate the multiple variables associated with declaring a major. Whether they enroll in a pre-med track or sign up for an engineering program, prospective students are encouraged to declare of field of study before enrolling in courses. Some schools may offer an ‘undeclared’ path, but by the end of year one, a major must be chosen. The pressure to decide what the rest of your life will look like is often daunting and causes anxiety in a lot of students. The National Center for Education Statistics found that 80% of undergraduate students changed their major at least once in their first three years of enrollment (2017). This statistic showcases the students often change their paths once or multiple times throughout their degree which can delay graduation, incur additional costs, or cause other issues.
EMDT Program Learning Goal(s):
Students will evaluate and create instructional media and technology to support teaching and learning.
Students will identify and critically examine educational technology trends for practical application.
Students will analyze and evaluate effective teaching strategies in the design and development of curricula
Instructional Goal of the Artifact:
Share a common experience to help current high school and undergraduate students avoid the stress and anxiety associated with changing a major using digital storytelling techniques.
Process
Pre-production for this project began with idea generation for a story that is personal to me and could be impactful for learners everywhere. I settled on the change of major process due to the periodic conversations that I have with my current student population surrounding this topic. As an Academic Advisor, I often help students navigate their uncertainty with their chosen major and find what might best fit their goals. We talk through motivations, hesitations, fears, and much more to decide if changing their major is the right path for them. At this stage in the decision making process, changing their major is often a clear choice for students; however, making this change can sometimes have unforeseen consequences. Whether it is losing credit, extending graduation dates, or even incurring additional costs, this process is not as straightforward as it seems.
My plan was to include three experiences highlighting the different decision making aspects that go into the change of major process. I included myself and two other peers with different experiences in the final cut of the video. Although there was an overarching theme to the video, each presenter shared their own story in a ‘mini story arc.’
Visual Assets Folder
Story Table
With the plan in my head, it was time to put pencil to paper and create a story table for this project. A story table combines the script, storyboard, and media into a cohesive document to ensure that design choices do not conflict (Ohler, 2013). I used Google Docs to combine my written script, a shot list with additional media, and small thumbnails. This part of the pre-production process was new to me, but the meticulous planning helped ensure a smooth production process.
Story Table Document
New Tools
With the pre-production complete, I filmed my narration, hosted two interviews, and set to work on compiling the video. For the editing software, I used iMovie and incorporated motion graphics created with Keynote and Adobe After Effects. I am still new to creating more than just still assets for video production, but this project allowed me to explore more challenging motion graphics. I used these tools to create a lower third animation, a title sequence, and a few other graphics the add interest to the video.
Although the bulk of the video included interviews, I was able to break each section up with visuals sharing key takeaways or quotes. I also used audio to separate the mini story arcs and drive the pacing of the video. Ohler (2013) highlights the importance of pacing and using audio to guide the emotional direction of a story. The choices made with visuals, narration, and audio all add up to a hopeful and upbeat story.
Final Digital Story
Results and Takeaways
Pre-production techniques outline by Ohler and other digital storytelling professionals were instrumental in the completion of this video. Moving forward, I plan to include these ideas (story table, asset gathering, and scriptwriting) into more projects.
Through this project, I also discovered the flexibility of applying digital storytelling to different areas of study. Digital storytelling teaches valuable literacy skills, time management skills, production basics, and much more. Incorporating more digital storytelling into my education and art practice is a new goal for me, and I hope to apply this concept into future pursuits.
References
Ohler, J.B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity (2nd ed.). Corwin.
