From Concept to Website: Designing an Instructional Module for Documentary Film Research

Abstract

This article focuses on the design and development of an educational resource to guide beginner filmmakers with documentary film subject research and data collection. It also examines the instructional design process that was used to iteratively bring the educational resource to its final, completed form. This research used data collected from a previous study (Iwasaki, 2021b) that captured and summarized the knowledge and expertise of 11 professional filmmakers with subject research and data collection for documentary film. After analysis and interpretation, five major themes emerged which were organized as beneficial suggestions. Motivational, instructional, and multimedia learning models served as the frameworks to inform and design the resource. Experienced reviewers conducted multiple formative assessments; what started out as a basic resource evolved into a content rich, technology-enhanced, interactive instructional “module” website. It will contribute to the literature of documentary film research, the fields of instructional design and education, and the humanities.