The Ocean 180 Video Challenge: An Innovative Outreach Strategy for Connecting Scientists to Classrooms

Recognizing the need for scientists to engage and communicate more effectively with the public, the Florida Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE Florida) created an opportunity to connect the two through film. The Ocean 180 Video Challenge taps into the competitive spirit of scientists and encourages them to submit short, 3-minute video abstracts summarizing the important findings of recent peer-reviewed papers and highlighting the relevance, meaning, and implications of the research to persons outside their discipline. Although the videos are initially screened and evaluated by a team of science and communication experts, the winners (from a field of ten finalists) are selected by middle school students in classrooms all over the world. Since its inception in 2013, Ocean 180 has grown in popularity, with more than 38,000 middle school students from 1,637 classrooms in 21 countries participating as judges. Results of a Draw-a-Scientist Test administered during the 2015 competition indicate Ocean 180 is an successful intervention that has a positive impact on students’ views of science, including their perception and attitudes toward scientists and science careers. Thus, our presentation will discuss how video competitions can serve as effective outreach strategies for encouraging scientists to share new discoveries and their enthusiasm for science with K-12 students. We will also highlight the outcomes and lessons-learned from the 2014 and 2015 competitions, including (1) strategies for recruiting teachers and students to participate as judges, (2) approaches used by educators to align the content of videos with state and national science standards, and (3) ways contest videos can be integrated into science training and professional development programs, including workshops focusing on effective video storytelling techniques.