Jasper B.'s Classes

Students easily get bored with the usual things we do in the classroom:  lectures, reports, quizzes, assignments, etc.  To make classes more fun, I use movies to get my point across.  Movies have "visual" and "audio" impact.  Students can remember the lessons more if they are taught through movies.

When I was still a student, I can hardly remember those theoretical stuff that our teachers taught us.  But once my teachers used illustrations with a big impact, I could remember the lessons for months, even years.  In fact, I had one subject in school (I think it was Humanities I) which I've forgotten all the lessons we've discussed.  But until now, I can still remember the required "viewings" for our Reaction Papers.  We were told to watch "Ligaya ang Itawag Mo Sa Akin" and "Mga Lalake sa Buhay ni Selya".  See? I've forgotten the lessons but I could not forget the "required" movies.

These past few months, I've been surfing the net looking for sites discussing or listing down movies that can be used to management-related subjects/courses.  I found a few but the movies suggested were too boring, too old, or just plain unusual.  One suggestion was Big Night.  As a test to see if the movie is interesting, I watched it during my "sleeping time" (around 10 PM).  If the movie can keep me awake, it's an interesting one and will keep my students interested.  After the first 15 movies, I was already dozing off.  No offense meant to the makers of Big Night.  It is a great movie but it is not quite suited for restless, noisy teenagers.

So, I decided to make my own list/compilation of movies to watch.

Cube is a Canadian, psycho-thriller film directed by Vincenzo Natali.  The movie is about six (6) people with different personalities and different skills trapped inside a giant cube with thousands of rooms.  Their different skills came into play when they decided to look for a way out of the giant cube.

There are countless summaries of this movie all over the internet including the different interpretations of the movie.

This movie is helpful for the Human Behavior in Organization class especially in the topics of Personality, Personality Traits, and Psychological Types.  In addition, this suspenseful movie will keep students interested and they will stay awake the entire duration of the film.

Here are the guide questions for the classroom discussion of the movie:

1.  What is the role of each of the character in the movie? 

2.  Do you think that the names of the character are symbolic or are they just random?

3.  What is the dominant personality trait of each of the character in the movie?

4.  What do you think is the Psychological Type of each character in the movie?

5.  Is it true that high stress events show the "inner man" of a person?  Is this reflected in the movie?

The Rocker (2008) is a comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo.  The film is about a failed drummer, Robert "Fish" Fishman, who was given a second chance at fame.  His band, Vesuvius, replaced him when they were on their way to fame.  Fish waited for twenty (20) to get another shot as a musician/drummer.  He found himself drumming for A.D.D., a high-school rock band whose keyboardist is his nephew, Matt.

For more information on the film, just search the internet.

This film is useful for Management classes especially in the topics of Goal Setting, Teamwork, and Strategy.  This is most suited for First Year Management students who are only 17 years old.  (Note:  In the Philippines, First Year College Students are aged between 16-17.  Hence, teenage movies are good for their learning.  They find serious movies rather boring).

Here are some guide questions for the discussion of the film:

1.  What is/are the goal/s of A.D.D.?

2.  How were they able to reach their goals?  What strategies did the band use to reach these goals?

3.  What were the conflicts that the band encountered and how were they resolved? (State as many as possible).

A documentary by Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me discusses the effects of fast food to one's health, specifically, the food served at McDonald's.  The film follows the 30-day experiment of Spurlock of eating and drinking nothing else but McDonald's food (even his drinking water should be from McDonald's).  The film is unlike any documentary because it is fun and yet tragic.

The film is suited for the topic of Social Responsibility.

When I used this film in class, I did not have any guide questions.  The students are free to "react" however they want.