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In today’s digital landscape, our students are native video-media creators; their social interactions may be virtual as often as they are face-to-face. They aren’t just consumers of digital content — instead, they are active producers who gather and share information through platforms like YouTube and TikTok. As chemistry educators, we can leverage this passion for online content creation to transform learning into an interactive, visible process through a pedagogical strategy I call, “Be the YouTuber.”

In this method, the teacher asks students to create short, screen-captured videos through which they demonstrate mastery of a chemistry topic. By becoming the “YouTube teacher,” students must articulate their thoughts clearly, synthesize complex information, and devise strategies to visually represent abstract concepts to an audience. This approach moves students beyond passive consumption to a state of active engagement, making their thinking visible to the teacher for both formative and summative assessment. 

How it works

I typically use this strategy after direct instruction on a topic. To make this work in your own classroom, you can start by leaning into any of your favorite instructional methods. For example, when teaching students to balance equations, I like to use the atom inventory method (Figure 1) with the “I do, we do, you do” teaching strategy. This begins with students writing an unbalanced chemical equation in their notebooks. After identifying the reactants, products, and yield arrow, I use the Law of Conservation of Matter as a discussion topic to guide students to the requirement that a balanced chemical equation must show the same number of each type of atom on both sides of the arrow.

Once students have grasped the logic of the atom inventory, they practice this method by balancing some simple reaction equations in their notebooks. I then turn them loose on the AACT Balancing Chemical Equations simulation (which embeds the PhET simulation) so they can visualize the “why” behind the numbers. I follow this activity by presenting more challenging examples through guided and independent practice. The challenging equations are either reactions involving multiple polyatomic ions or combustion reactions that are best balanced “alphabetically” (C first, then H, and finally O). After more paper-and-pencil practice they are ready for the “Be the YouTuber” challenge.

I treat this as a high-stakes formative assessment. Here is the workflow I’ve found most effective for a standard 50-minute period:

• The model: I kick things off by recording a “live” example. I show (or ask them) how to use a Chromebook or iPad to make a recording of the screen, and then I model balancing an equation in under 60 seconds. Seeing me “beat the clock” builds immediate buy-in.
• The scripting phase: I emphasize to students that they shouldn’t just “wing it.” I tell them: “If you haven’t balanced it on paper first, don’t hit record.” They need to plan their verbal explanations to ensure they are using subject-specific vocabulary, like coefficient, subscript, and law of conservation of mass.
  
• “Multiple takes” magic: This phase is where the real learning happens. In the “real world” of my classroom, a student might restart recording their video four or five times because they’ve stumbled over their words or realized their inventory didn’t match. This kind of repetition isn’t just “fixing a video” — rather, it’s cognitive reinforcement.

For a general chemistry section, I typically dedicate a full class period to filming. For advanced students, I assign this as a homework project, as these students usually have the skills to independently work through the tech and the chemistry. The result of this type of activity is more than just a file in your inbox; it’s evidence that the student can “talk the talk” of a chemist (see Figure 2).

Why it works

I have found this method to be highly effective for topics that are traditionally abstract or procedural, such as:

• Balancing Chemical Equations (HS-PS1-7): Balancing equations can be challenging due to their abstract nature. In their videos, students perform a step-by-step atom inventory, justifying the placement of coefficients to demonstrate the conservation of matter.

• Lewis Dot Structures (HS-PS1-1): Students record their process of drawing structures, explaining how they add valence electrons to complete octets and form bonds. This allows them to articulate bond angles, molecular shapes, and polarity, reinforcing their understanding of how electrons determine molecular structure and polarity.

• Electrochemical Cells: Students annotate diagrams to illustrate the flow of electrical current, explaining how electrons are lost at the anode and move through a wire to the cathode, as well as the movement of ions through a salt bridge.

The strategy is grounded in the idea that teaching others is an effective way to solidify knowledge. When students create tutorial videos, they aren’t just showing they know how to do something; they are building, and then demonstrating, a deep understanding of the skill, practice, or concept using communication media they experience every day in their own lives.

Furthermore, video reflections and tutorials capture the language of metacognition. They allow teachers to see not only the step-by-step strategies students use to solve problems, but also the flexibility they rely on when a particular approach doesn’t work.

The technology to support student-created videos

The transition to one-to-one device use in many schools has made the types of technology needed to implement this strategy accessible to far more students. Touch-screen devices (like iPads or Chromebooks) that allow students to write directly on the screen are especially useful, but students can use whatever tools are freely available to them.

There are many ways students can create videos to accomplish the goals set forth in this strategy. Of all these, I’ve found that it is easiest for both the students and the teacher when: 1) each student has an internet-capable device (larger than a phone) equipped with a microphone, and 2) when students can upload their completed files directly to a classroom folder in an existing Learning Management System (LMS). See Figure 3 for hints on accessing the appropriate technologies.

Students learning from students

Last year I wanted to move my classes’ student-created videos from individual screens to a shared classroom experience, so I applied for, and was awarded an ACS-Hach High School Chemistry Classroom Grant. This provided the funding for a mobile monitor, allowing my classes to view and analyze student work together. This visibility has been instrumental in improving student learning, as it allows me to identify and dispel misconceptions — such as confusing the anode and cathode — before a final summative assessment. This technology helps to ensure that students will “make it real” for a live audience and that they can learn from one another.

In my experience, when students know their work has an audience beyond the teacher, they often produce their best work. Sharing these tutorials with classmates reinforces the idea that everyone in the room is both a teacher and a learner. By embracing the “Be the YouTuber” approach, we can create a vibrant educational environment that prepares students for success in the digital age while ensuring they truly master the complexities of chemistry.

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to Jazz Sommers, Dr William Hunter - Illinois State, Max Just, and Dr. Robert Kinney.

Special thanks to my students Isabella Hafertepe, Dahsen McCloud, and Silinapha Ngo for providing feedback and for allowing their work to be publicly shared.