bonza

the research problem

As a discipline Cinema Studies is driven by film 'texts' which combine sound and image; its students however produce knowledge only in print. Cinema Studies research has traditionally been conducted in a way that is removed and distant from its object of study. For instance, students wanting to conduct research on an early Australian filmmaker would go to a library to do a literature review; they would also watch on video any available films made by the filmmaker. They would then summarise and evaluate their findings in the context of a specific argument, and would then hand in their written papers to a supervising academic staff member for assessment.

This procedure not only has implications for the way knowledge is traditionally understood and applied in Cinema Studies, it is limiting in terms of expression. The distance of printed texts from cinema hinders the development of thought in relation to Cinema Studies. It also constrains the students' understanding of research activities and contexts.

the research proposal

In order to improve the quality of learning in Cinema Studies, we have developed a student driven learning context that uses hypermedia essays and a relational database (incorporating mixed media) to enable students to make links between their own research and that of other students and researchers. In addition, student users of the database present their research in Internet writing forms that enable the inclusion of words, sound, and image. Through the use of an online database, Internet hypermedia essays, self driven learning and supervised teaching strategies this project creates an authentic context in which students will obtain first hard insight into the disparate, multiple, and contentious histories and practices of Cinema Studies research. As a result of these processes, this project will generate a series of ongoing Cinema Studies resources including a fully accessible online Australian film history database and a series of teaching and learning manuals.

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