In Leadership for Social Change (ATS1020),‘Carpool Karaoke’ style videos were created to increase students’ engagement with complex global issues. Delivering material in a way students found relatable has allowed them to understand the concepts and theory underpinning the unit’s material.
I was aware that my students were not engaging with the online content in my Global Studies units. Whilst reflecting on student evaluations and engaging in discussions with colleagues, I realised where the barriers may be occurring.
As a field, Global Studies introduces students to a range of difficult, ‘wicked’ problems - challenges at a global scale that are often hard to grasp, particularly for first year students.
It is easy for students to feel overwhelmed by the scope of the problem, and the theoretical framework that we use to underpin it.
I created short, weekly videos to introduce new topics to the course.
To procure an informal environment and delivery that students find relatable, the videos were filmed in my car, as I drove around the Monash Campus discussing the week’s topic with a guest speaker.
Students now affectionately refer to these videos as our ‘carpool karaoke sessions’.
The lack of student engagement with online content was my main driver for these videos. I also felt it would be a good way of meeting my students halfway, stepping into the online space that is second nature to them.
I am not a YouTuber, or a social media influencer, and I don’t intend to be one, but I thought that approximating those formats of delivery whilst maintaining scholarly rigour could build bridges with my younger students.
The videos are embedded within a Moodle lesson. They are interspersed with multiple-choice, assessed questions on the week’s readings, and the ‘carpool’ discussion itself.
Over the last five years, the ‘carpool karaoke videos’ are consistently one of the highlights of my unit.
Students find it much easier to understand these complicated, challenging topics, because they are delivered in a more relatable way.
Students praise the videos in every SETU, and according to Moodle, each weekly video has over ten thousand views, which I find extraordinary when considering the size of my unit.
"The car videos were a great way of understanding the readings and topic each week. Additionally, the quizzes were a great way of consolidating my knowledge."
"The 'carpool karaokes' were particularly engaging and the comments made, and discussion stimulated by Gabriel was ALWAYS really insightful. This really assisted my comprehension of the weekly readings. It also often cleverly tied all the topics together, reinforcing what we had already learned and showing how it can be applied to various case studies."
“The Carpool Karaoke sessions were super effective and fun – it was great to have a summary of the weekly readings and see the tutors engaging with the content.”
This exemplar is a bit more easy to implement.
Recommended resources and training:
| Set up weekly lessons on Moodle. |
| Find expert guests for each weekly topic, who are willing to be on board with the activity. |
| Film video with the expert guest. |
| Edit the video using your preferred editing software. |
 | Learn how to embed video into Moodle lessons, and intersperse your video with multiple choice questions. |
Here are some examples of the 'Carpool Karaoke' style videos.
