--- tags: report --- # Malcolm Morano: Media & Design Fellow in Philosophy ![alt text](https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T0HTW3H0V-F04JZCE0MJ4/malcolm-mdf-meeting.png?pub_secret=308a05058a) ## Course Support ### PHIL 99: Senior Tutorial Metacognitive Video Interviews Media & Design Fellow in Philosophy Malcolm Morano has been recording video interviews with philosophy thesis students, documenting how their answers to a consistent set of questions changes as they progress through the stages of thesis development. Later interviews will also include sections where they respond to clips of the answers they gave in earlier ones. At the end of the year, these interviews will be edited into a video for each student, contrasting their successive answers to the most fruitful questions. Malcolm reflected on the learning objectives of this project: "Like most academic disciplines, philosophy projects can often become obscure and technical. But the ability to talk about one’s research at various levels of depth is essential, both for general reasons – such as making connections across academic disciplines, and informing non-specialists about work done in academia – and for philosophy-specific reasons, as it is often thought that the questions of philosophy are of interest to all reflective agents, and that the discipline should be practiced with this audience in mind. Pushing students to explain and discuss their research with non-specialists in the interviews, and giving them the opportunity to improve their answers and explanations over the course of the year, will give them practice at talking and thinking about their work in this way." These video reflections are also an important act of metacognitive reflection, giving students the opportunity to reflect on their learning process as they develop their projects. ## Department Support ### Embedded EthiCS Media & Design Fellow in Philosophy Malcolm Morano worked with Professor Alison Simmons on explainer videos for Embedded EthiCS. Malcolm's video is about the concept of fairness and uses visuals that help concretize otherwise abstract perceptions of fairness. ## Learning Lab Training ### audio/video Media & Design Fellows identify key tools they need to learn in order to complete their projects. They join internal labs to receive training and practice using these tools. They also shadow experienced MDFs and Learning Lab staff as they design prompts and lead workshops. Teaming up with an audio/video lab, Malcolm developed his skills in audio/video editing and assignment design, looking to further his skills in video production as he produces the videos about Philosophy senior thesis writers and in his support of Embedded EthiCS. Malcolm's current learning project is "chalk talks," a type of video essay where an academic explains disciplinary content on camera, using a chalkboard to create explanatory illustrations.