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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 228 (2016) 489 – 495
2nd International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd´16, 21-23 June 2016,
València, Spain
Abstract
One of the challenges for Nanotechnology is education, which is considered as a bottleneck for Nanotechnology development
and implementation. This work contributes to nanoscale education by designing a wide variety of cutting-edge documentaries
which assist high-educational level students in learning the underlying concepts of Nanoscience, the last advances and furure
prospects. In addition, documentaries seek to bring and disseminate the scientific activity of Nanotechnology to society. In this
sense, the secondary goals of the proposed approach nanotech activity are: 1) Transfer of knowledge generated in the
nanotechnology field and 2) The promotion of scientific culture and innovation between the public objectives. Based on the
results observed in students`s assessment and You Tube metrics, it was concluded that the developed of nanoscale based
documentaries enabled a fast and efficent comprehension of complex concepts related to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. In
addition, the opinion of You Tube audience is highly promising and shows that You Tube and documentaries are an excellent
channel to disseminate Nanoscience to society.
©©2016
2016TheTheAuthors. Published
Authors. by Elsevier
Published Ltd. Ltd.
by Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of HEAd´16.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of HEAd´16
Keywords: Science Education; Nanotechnology; You Tube video; Visual media learning ;Teaching Nanotechnology.
1877-0428 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of HEAd´16
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.075
490 Victor Sebastian and Marta Gimenez / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 228 (2016) 489 – 495
1. Introduction
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology refer to the study, manipulation, engineering and application of matter,
particles and structures on the nanometer (nm) scale (1 nm=10 -9 m). Important properties of materials, such as the
magnetic, electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties, are determined by the way molecules and atoms
assemble at the nanoscale. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are at the forefront of modern research and they are
considered the new revolution for 21st century.
Nanoscience education is still emerging, and unlike other areas of science education, there are some gaps to fill
about how to teach the crucial ideas of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Blonder, 2012). It must be promoted new
developments in nanoscience education materials as well as research into how graduate or even PhD students best
learn nanoscience concepts to succeed in teaching the basics of nanoscale (Greenberg, 2009).
The continuous advance of nanomaterials science and its unprecedented application in more than 1800
nanotechnology-based consumer products, indicate that nanomaterials are crucial to develop new applications:
biological tagging, medical diagnostics and treatment, solar energy harvesting, catalysis and electro-optical
applications. Then, given the expected economic and social impact of nanotechnology products and the fact that
many areas of application are still scarcely explored, it can foresee that industrial use of nanomaterials will continue
to increase in future. However, one of the ‘grand challenges’ for nanotechnology is education, which is considered
as a bottleneck for the development and implementation of the field (Roco, 2003). It is even foresee the situation
where we may have the research results for new nanoapplications but without having skilled workers to translate
them out of research centers (Roco, 2003).
Nanoscience and nanotechnology scientific disciplines are situated at the interface between physics, chemistry,
biochemistry, biotechnology, materials science, medicine, microelectronics and computer science . Control of these
disciplines therefore requires an academic and multidisciplinary scientific education. Then, it seems reasonable that
a multidisciplinary scientific education is crucial to provide industry and research institutes with top quality experts.
However, the physical infrastructure in nanoscale science is still in formation, being the multidisciplinary education
one of the bottle necks (Roco, 2003). In general, the students use to have difficulties to understand the underlying
scientific principles that lead the unique properties at the nanoscale (Muniz, 2014). And, what is more important,
teachers also have difficulties in implementing high quality nanoscience and nanotechnology educational material to
produce a deep understanding of nanoscience concepts (Greenberg, 2009). Considering the previous facts, there is a
need of both thinking small and providing educational tools to assist in the knowledge transfer.
Online videos are considered to be useful in areas of science where records of complex laboratory
demonstrations, or physical/chemical phenomena might be more effectively communicated than would prose
(Kousha, 2012). For instance, the use of images and documentaries and the ability to share them through the World
Wide Web has revolutionized scientific procedures, enhanced our ability to discover new things and offered new
opportunities for education (Pasquali, 2007). Video is a valuable teaching tool because it can be used to show
students things that would be otherwise hard to transfer in a limited period of time. In fact, an increasing number of
scientists uses video to present their results at scientific meetings, during lectures or in their publications as online
supplementary material. Then, it seems clear that the use of movies to understand the concepts and phenomena
occurring at a world where the scale is far beyond our dimensions could ease Nanoscience teaching.
Consequently, this work has the main goal of contributing to nanoscale education by designing a wide variety of
cutting-edge documentaries, named “Nanotechnology capsules”, which assist high-educational level students in
learning the underlying concepts of Nanoscience, the last advances, as well as the future prospects in new topics
ranging from properties of nanomaterials to their societal impacts. In addition, “Nanotechnology capsules" seeks to
bring and disseminate the scientific activity of Nanotechnology to society. In this sense, the secondary goals of the
proposed approach nanotech activity are: 1) Transfer of knowledge generated in the nanotechnology field and 2) The
promotion of scientific culture and innovation between the public objectives.
Next, it will be described the methodology applied and the most interesting information about the
Nanotechnology capsules and their educational benefits.
Victor Sebastian and Marta Gimenez / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 228 (2016) 489 – 495 491
This study was carried out at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, during two academic years (2014-2016). A total
number of 110 people were involved in this study: 1) 25 Chemical Engineering master students, attending the
optional subject “Nanomaterials” given on two days for a total of 4 hours a week during the spring semester. 2) 85
people with different level of education, ranging from secondary education to PhD.
This work comprises three parts: 1) Selection of a variety of advanced research themes for Nanotechnology
capsules script writing and digital recording. 2) Nanoscience divulgation to society and teaching method.
Divulgation to society was carried out using public media (radio and newspapers). The teaching method study
examines how the teaching methodology influences student learning using two different teaching methodologies.
The first is a traditional method where the blackboard and PowerPoint slides were used to teach the underlying
scientific principles that lead the unique properties at the nanoscale, the second is a method based in the
Nanotechnology capsules, where students where taught using the visual media prepared in this work and afterwards
they were asked to follow a list of activities and questions to be graded. 3) Survey and student assessment.
Many academics are now using YouTube for recording and disseminating course lectures (Pasquali, 2007).
Most studies about academic uses of YouTube videos have focused on educational applications or have used
YouTube videos as a dataset for scientific research. The use of You Tube videos is gaining interest in the scientific
community, being also cited by academic publications and scientific peer-reviewed journals (Kousha, 2012). A set
of ten documentaries have summarized the last advances in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The documentaries
were deposited for free access in a You Tube channel named “Catedra Samca de Nanotecnologia”. The
documentaries were bilingual to reach audiences both in English and Spanish. The metric applied to determine the
success of the Nanocapsules videos was done by the evaluation of an audience survey and counting the views that
each video has over time. These data have enabled to have the statistics analysis from each nanocapusule. In the
teaching methodologies students learning were evaluated during the lessons (evaluation of a list of activities) as well
as in an end-of-term test using a total number of 50 multiple-choice questions. Specifically, 25 questions were used
to test student knowledge acquisition when the teaching methodology based on Nanotechnology capsules was used
and 25 questions were used to test the traditional procedure.
Nanotechnology capsules were elaborated according to three main fields at the nano scale: 1) Nanomaterials and
applications (Figure 1), 2) Promising nanofields (Figure 2) and 3) Biomedicine and sensors (Figure 3). The
following sections described the most interesting facts related to the Nanotechnology capsules.
Carbon based nanomaterials are a reference in Nanoscience and extensive research efforts are being made to
utilize these materials for various industrial applications. The Nanotechnology capsule entitled “Graphene” (Figure
1) reports the most interesting data related to graphene and it is presented as a unique material with properties that
have never existed in any other material. New insights in the production techniques and applications are considered
in this capsule (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oWOIzqi7zU). Scientists involved in carbon nanomaterials
production described in the capsule entitled “Carbonaceous nanomaterials and nanotubes” the most important
properties of carbon based nanomaterials such as carbon fullerenes, nanotubes and nanofibers, as well as the stages
governing their growth (Fig. 1) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZfwb__Tjc0). The number of applications
based on nanomaterials is drastically increasing; here we present two applications where the role of nanomaterials is
crucial to fulfill the expected requirements. The Nanotechnology capsule entitled “smart textiles” summarizes the
most remarkable properties of nanomaterials in textiles field (Figure 1). Large production of those textiles is
described by engineers with emphasis in how nanotechnology can be scale from lab to large scale production
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93d6hdyX3BM).
492 Victor Sebastian and Marta Gimenez / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 228 (2016) 489 – 495
On the other hand, the Nanotechnology capsule entitled “Nanotechnology applied to smart coatings” (Figure 1)
describes how today's surfaces can become smart surfaces thanks to the research that is being carried out in the field
of Nanotechnology: surfaces that are able to clean themselves or self-repairing in the case of the generation of a
crack on their surface (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMt--ICWE18).
When light interacts with structured materials at a nanometric level, new properties emerge with an enormous
technological interest. Their study is the field of Nanophotonics. Students use to have difficulties to understand the
underlying scientific principles that lead the unique behavior of light on the nanometer. Consequently, the
Nanomagnetism Nanophotonic
Nanotechnology capsule entitled “Nanophotonics” describes the basics and key statements of this field (Figure 2).
For instance, Prof. Liz-Marzan describes how the light can interact with nanoparticles to promote the interaction
with cancer cells and permitting the detection of the diseases at a very early development level
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsSH0rPwnEc). Similarly to Nanophotonic capsule, the capsule entitled
“Nanomagnetism” states the advances and future prospects of this field which is focused in the study of the magnetic
behavior between a sample with nanometric dimensions and magnetic field
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCjrdCZyoAk).
Nanotechnology is causing a revolution in the field of medicine. Considering the enormous potential of this field
and the increasing need of skilled scientist, four different Nanotechnology capsules review the most overwhelming
advances in the biomedicine field (Figure 3). The capsule entitled “Nanotherapy and nanodiagnosis: diagnostic and
therapeutic applications of nanoscience” describes few examples of Phototherapy and gene therapy treatments, using
simulations to ease their comprehension (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDr3n5ZJ978). On the other hand, the
capsule entitled “Nanosensors” graphically described how nanobiosensors take advantage of the special properties of
the nanoparticles to detect substances of interest, making use of their physical and chemical characteristics. This
technology enables to make progress in the early and non-invasive diagnosis of diseases, the determination of
pollutants in water, or the detection of antibiotics or allergens in food.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnToLYyc_Gs). An array of inter-connected sensors can be assembled,
originating an “electronic nose”. The capsule entitled “The electronic nose” shows how the identification of smells is
going to have important repercussions in different fields. In health, it can permit the diagnosis of infections and
diseases such as asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or even cancer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKueJLlJeVc).
Finally, the Nanotechnology capsule entitled “Nanosafety_ nanotechnological applications in product safety”
highlight the fact that certain nanoparticles are able to pass through biological membranes and can even reach the
nucleus of the cells is representing revolutionary advances in therapies against diseases such as cancer, but at the
same time it poses questions in terms of the possibility of the environmental nanoparticles being able to cause harm
in the organism.( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ytxlLF9dk).
a) b) 10000
English Version
Spanish Version
Number of views
1000
100
10
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afe cove ton tism so rap rila phen os t ile
n os r t pho agne osen othe mate ra n i c n rt tex
Na a o n n no G o a
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Evaluation Survey:
Q4 Length of the video (Innappropiate to Very Appropiate)
Q1 Age Q5 Theme and Contents (Uninteresting to Very Interesting)
Q2 Gender Q6 Comprehension (Innappropiate to very appropiate)
Q3 Level of Education Q7 Would you recmmend this video? (yes/no)
Q8 General opinion fo the video (Innappropiate to very Appropiate)
Q9 Information about the research described in the video (Importance/Usefulness)
Number of surveys = 110
Q1 < 20 Q2 Q3 No qualification
20-30 Male
Secondary Education
21% 30-40 Female
42% 16% Graduate
40-60
Master
53% >60
PhD
21% Others
83%
17%
10% 6%
58% 61%
Q7 Yes
No
Q8 Very Appropiate
Appropiate
Q9 Very High
High
16% Standard
95%
84%
Fig.4a) Evaluation survey to You Tube Nanotechnology capsules and statistics. b) Number of views per Nanotechnology capsule
Victor Sebastian and Marta Gimenez / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 228 (2016) 489 – 495 495
Figure 4-a shows the survey to evaluate the audience opinion about the capsules. It can be highlighted from the
YouTube movie metrics that the total visualization time was 55.615 minutes and the mean visualization time per
capsule was 3.10 minutes. It means that the scientific content of those capsules with duration longer than 3 minutes
were not efficiently transmitted to the audience. The results obtained from the evaluation survey show the
effectiveness in the elaboration of the visual media, since the quality, comprehension, usefulness and importance of
the capsules was mainly considered as very appropriate. Figure 4-b shows the number of views of each capsule. You
Tube metrics depicts that the majority of viewers were located in Spain, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and USA; being
the Spanish version the most widely visualized. The difference in the number of views between capsules was mainly
due to a different in the uploading date. On the other hand, comparing student assessments between the traditional
and the capsule based methodology, the highest achievement was obtained with the visual media. Students also
highlighted that the time required to understand the underlying nanoscale concepts and phenomena was shorter using
the nanocapsules, obtaining more fruitful information.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results observed in students`s assessment and You Tube metrics, it was concluded that the
developed of cutting-edge documentaries helped to ease the student’s comprehension of complex concepts related to
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. In addition, the opinion of You Tube audience is very positive and shows that
this is an exce llent channel to disseminate Nanoscience to society.
5. Acknowledgements
Authors wish to express their gratitude to the University of Zaragoza for the teaching innovation project conceded
(Project PIIDUZ_15_173), Prof. Jesús Santamaría and Cátedra SAMCA de Nanotecnología, and Fomento de la
cultura científica, tecnológica y de la innovación.(FECYT), Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad.
6. References
Ron Blonder and Sohair Sakhnini (2012) Teaching two basic nanotechnology concepts in secondary school by using a variety of teaching
methods. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 13, 500–516
Greenberg, A. (2009) Integrating nanoscience into the classroom: Perspectives on nanoscience education projects. Acs Nano, 3(4), 762-769.
Gur, I., Fromer, N. A., Geier, M. L. & Alivisatos, A. P. (2005) Air-stable all-inorganic nanocrystal solar cells processed from solution. Science,
310(5747), 462-465.
Kousha, K., Thelwall, M. & Abdoli, M. (2012) The role of online videos in research communication: A content analysis of youtube videos cited
in academic publications. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(9), 1710-1727.
Marc N. Muniz and Maria T. Oliver-Hoyo (2014) On the use of analogy to connect core physical and chemical concepts to those at the nanoscale.
Chemistry Education Research and Practice 15, 807-823
Pasquali, M. (2007) Video in science. Embo Reports, 8(8), 712-716.
Roco, M. C. (2003) Converging science and technology at the nanoscale: Opportunities for education and training. Nature Biotechnology, 21(10),
1247-1249.