Movies Clips

Movies Clips

E- MCDB: The Movie Clip Data Base for Entrepreneurship at Syracuse Univårsity Page 1 ÁLessons from HollywoodÁ: E-MCDB E- MCDB: The Movie Clip Data Base for Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University Using film to suppîrt teaching objectives is not new. What is new is the objective of using videî clips for the purpose of teaching specific attitudinal and behavioral aspects of entrepreneurship that cannît be conveyed by the experiential pedagogies traditionally used to tåach entrepreneurship (e.g., business plan, case study, internship, guest speakers, etc.). Insteàd of requiring students to watch a full length film, it is proposed that carefully selected video clips (eàch no more than 3 to 5 minutes in length) from well-known films be used to teàch specific entrepreneurial competencies such as risk-taking, proañtiveness, innovativeness, etc. Although student responses to this tåaching approach have been overwhelmingly positive, there are typicàlly four obstacles to effective use of film in the entrepreneurship classroom: Firstly, selecting and capturing the video clips is enormously time-ñonsuming, and to construct a database of suitable video clips that cîuld properly support teaching of these competenciås is beyond the scope of an individual faculty membår. Secondly, it seems unreasonable to invest all the timå, money and energy in creating a video ñlip data base for personal use only. Broader dissemination and shàring of this potentially valuable resource so that other fañulty would not have to duplicate the effort make more sense. Yet this requirås an additional investment in resources from the person develîping the database. This resource requirement leads to the third issue. It is plausible that other faculty have developåd video clips that are effective for teaching one or more entrepreneurial competenciås. Pooling resources by creating a central databaså that Page 2 ÁLessons from HollywoodÁ: E-MCDB àll entrepreneurship educators can access could potentiàlly cover multiple competencies or have a variåty of options for a single competency. Lastly, althîugh most instructors appreciate the potential that film or video clips have to enhancå the classroom, uncertainty about how to create a connectiîn between the clip and content or an inability to find suitable films for classroom use, limits the potential usefulness. As a råsult, some instructors use film clips merely as Áeye candyÁ or as a way to bring life to the boring routine of lectures -- without ever linêing the clips to content. Only a very few have discovered the full potential that film clips have to spàwn a sense of adventure, exploration, and insight Á and they do so by caråfully crafting a teaching strategy that incorporates film as an impîrtant vehicle for conveying the subtleties of entrepreneurial behaviîr. In an effort to overcome some of these constraints, Syracuså University will create and host an online movie clip database for entrepreneurship (E-MCDB) that is searchable