« One of the most important skills in my opinion is research work. Discovering a previously unknown field on your own allows you to develop your autonomy when faced with situations not dealt with in class. For example, the exercise enabled me to redirect my previously unsuccessful search in the context of a job exam to more favourable skies.
The work of writing the script and creating interactive content also helps to improve communication skills. The presentations by Ms. Marika Fenley and Mr. Romain Bessire were interesting in this respect and gave me some keys to put myself in the shoes of the viewers of the video. For example, I have retained the importance of repeating the various pieces of information during a speech, of combining them with images and of avoiding overloading the text presentations. Being understood being a key element of social life, I appreciated having a reminder of the importance of a clear and uncluttered presentation.
The 8-minute limit on the video also forced me to make choices about the material to be presented in order to keep the content understandable and digestible. I can imagine that such an exercise is not only useful for teaching careers but also for social activities in a broader sense. »
« This class allowed me to better understand how Swiss law is working, the organization between the Confederation, the cantons, and the communes, the power separation (legislator, executive, and judiciary), the different sources of law (doctrine, jurisprudence, etc.), and many other things like the type of law documents (ordonnance or loi) and also how to write references (i.e., “LFo, Art. 5, al. 1”). In my future carrier in conservation biology, I will certainly have to work in contact with the Swiss law, and it will help me a lot to already have this knowledge.
This class also allowed me to know a bit more about international law. I had to write feedback on a video about high sea biodiversity conservation. It was really interesting to learn how the law is constructed around this type of “object”. Different countries had to set up regulations together and find agreements for everybody. Since nature does not follow the borders, international law and regulations are crucial when it comes to biodiversity conservation. If I have to work for international conservation organizations in my carrier, this overview of international law could be a good advantage for me.
Finally, doing this short film for this class taught me so many things about videomaking. I learned to write a script, to popularize a topic, to film and record the sound properly and to edit the video. All these things will help me if I have to use this type of communication tool, for example to promote or explain a project to the public. Even if I approximatively knew how to make a video, actually doing it taught me a lot. »
