A novel teaching initiative at NUI Galway that enables students to explore the evolution of life on Earth through film, recently received the Jennifer Burke Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning.
The History of Life project encourages undergraduate science students to collectively produce short, documentary-style films on a diverse range of topics, including the origin of life on Earth, the evolution of land plants and animals, catastrophic past mass extinctions, and the emergence of early human ancestors. Created on shoestring budgets, these films are then uploaded to a YouTube channel, where they have reached a wide global audience and garnered almost a quarter of a million views since inception of the project in 2011.
The project was developed and is run by geologist and palaeontologist Dr John Murray from Earth and Ocean Sciences in NUI Galway, with continuing support from the University’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.
The Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA ) and Dublin City University confer the Jennifer Burke Award annually since 2009. It was created in memory of Jennifer Burke, a highly regarded member of the Irish Learning Technology community. The award recognises and rewards innovative practice in Irish teaching and learning, patricularly aiming to reflect and remember Jennifer’s vibrancy, creativity, energy and passion for learning.
Dr Morag Munro, ILTA representative and Enhancing Digital Teaching and Learning Project Lead at Maynooth University, said: “The History of Life film project is a creative, student-centred innovation in science teaching, with demonstrated impact on student learning. Our evaluation panel agreed that this is an outstanding example of innovation in Irish learning and teaching, and we would like to congratulate everyone involved with the project on this significant achievement.”
This is the third high-profile accolade received by the History of Life project - in June 2019 it won a MEDEA Award in Leuven, Belgium, from the Media and Learning Association for best practice in the use of media in education. Following this, in December 2020, it scooped the Palaeontological Association’s Gertrude Elles Award for promoting high-quality public engagement in the field of palaeontology.
Dr Murray commented : “We are deeply honoured and very humbled to receive the 2021 Jennifer Burke Award. This award is extremely special as it is named in honour of an exceptionally inspiring individual who was a dedicated and passionate teacher.
“The History of Life project provides students with the opportunity to express their ideas to the wider public and it is essentially an exercise in science communication. The success of the project is largely due to the energy, imagination and creativity of the students who have made these short films. The incredible words and visuals they have created onscreen have been inspiring; they illustrate and communicate a profoundly important message - principally concerning the story of where ultimately all life on Earth has come from, including humans.”
A short film compilation explaining more about the project, which was the winning submission for the Jennifer Burke Award, is available on the History of Life YouTube channel here: For more information about the History of Life film project contact Dr John Murray, Earth and Ocean Sciences, NUI Galway at [email protected] or 091 495095.