Case Study 1: Development of a DVD to Support Teaching of Competition Laws: Cartel Conduct
Within the economics department at the University of Melbourne, a number of courses, including Economics of the Law, Industrial Organization, and Competition and Strategy, focus on the conduct of firms and the strategies behind such conduct. Furthermore, various competition law courses taught both at the undergraduate level and as part of the master’s program in the law school analyze firm behavior within a legal framework.
The Cartel Conduct DVD was produced through a collaboration between the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Business and Economics, and the Melbourne Law School. The project focused on one subject area that was especially topical at the time: cartels. The aim was to create video resources that would enhance student appreciation of the real-world application of their studies, stimulate student interest in the area, and encourage self-learning.
The decision to create video was made after an extensive review of existing video and non-video resources on cartels. While some content was found to exist, little of it addressed the precise topic of cartel conduct and contained a range of expert perspectives on cartels, particularly those of distinct relevance and interest for students in Australia.
The project went through a typical video production process. The preproduction stage included a number of brainstorming sessions where the scope of the project was identified and pedagogical issues were discussed about how the resource would be used in and outside of the classroom. The production team agreed that Dr. Rhonda Smith from the Department of Economics and Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells of the Law School of the University of Melbourne would be filmed as content experts to set the scene and explain the overall process and specific issues of cartel conduct in Australia. In addition, the production team decided that third-party material would enhance the overall topic and support the required contextual understanding of the issues around the topic. Equipment, locations, scripts, and production team roles were also discussed and agreed upon.
During production, the content experts were filmed in prearranged locations. A two-camera setup was used each time in quiet, well-lit venues on-campus. This saved travel time and costs of hiring venues external to the university. Scripts were used, as well as more spontaneous discussion on the roles of cartels. A number of takes ensured that all outside noise was cut from the final product. Professional audio equipment ensured that the sound was of the highest possible quality. Prior to filming, a guide of what to wear on the day of filming was also given to content experts.
During the postproduction stage, filmed interviews were imported into the Avid Media Composer system and edited. Some third-party content was sourced, purchased, and added to the film. Careful consideration was given to the placement of third-party content, its length, and its suitability to the overall topic. An interview was also added with the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as well as video footage of a judge delivering his judgment in a cartel case.
The 40-minute video comprises an introductory discussion of the nature and economics of cartels, together with graphs, visuals, slides, and other material. The resource was designed initially as a high-quality DVD and was used as supplementary content for lectures in the undergraduate course Economics of the Law. The video resource may be used in tutorials and seminars, and clips from it can be featured on the course website as well in lectures. However, due to the restricted, campus-only viewing license for all of the video content, the video was not repurposed for use beyond the course for which it was designed, which typically comprised 20–30 students.
One significant issue that was encountered and is likely to impact on related future projects is the inclusion of copyright material. Although the University of Melbourne has various arrangements for the use of such material, what is allowed can be unclear, especially in relation to use of such material outside the classroom. For this project, a conservative approach was taken, and with just one exception all copyright material was independently sourced, and a license was purchased. Copyright license fees are extremely expensive even when used only for educational purposes. While greater clarity with respect to copyright issues is needed, in the meantime educators ought to become aware of some of the dangers associated with using copyright material. The production of multiple presentations will not be feasible if academic institutions must pay AUD$20 per second with a minimum of 60 seconds for television footage!
The overall result was a compelling multifaceted overview of cartel conduct in Australia for Economics of the Law students. The qualitative feedback was highly positive—the video was found to broaden students’ knowledge of the traditionally complex and opaque area of cartel conduct and provided a number of important insights from the experts in the field.
The Cartel Conduct DVD was produced through a collaboration between the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Business and Economics, and the Melbourne Law School. The project focused on one subject area that was especially topical at the time: cartels. The aim was to create video resources that would enhance student appreciation of the real-world application of their studies, stimulate student interest in the area, and encourage self-learning.
The decision to create video was made after an extensive review of existing video and non-video resources on cartels. While some content was found to exist, little of it addressed the precise topic of cartel conduct and contained a range of expert perspectives on cartels, particularly those of distinct relevance and interest for students in Australia.
The project went through a typical video production process. The preproduction stage included a number of brainstorming sessions where the scope of the project was identified and pedagogical issues were discussed about how the resource would be used in and outside of the classroom. The production team agreed that Dr. Rhonda Smith from the Department of Economics and Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells of the Law School of the University of Melbourne would be filmed as content experts to set the scene and explain the overall process and specific issues of cartel conduct in Australia. In addition, the production team decided that third-party material would enhance the overall topic and support the required contextual understanding of the issues around the topic. Equipment, locations, scripts, and production team roles were also discussed and agreed upon.
During production, the content experts were filmed in prearranged locations. A two-camera setup was used each time in quiet, well-lit venues on-campus. This saved travel time and costs of hiring venues external to the university. Scripts were used, as well as more spontaneous discussion on the roles of cartels. A number of takes ensured that all outside noise was cut from the final product. Professional audio equipment ensured that the sound was of the highest possible quality. Prior to filming, a guide of what to wear on the day of filming was also given to content experts.
During the postproduction stage, filmed interviews were imported into the Avid Media Composer system and edited. Some third-party content was sourced, purchased, and added to the film. Careful consideration was given to the placement of third-party content, its length, and its suitability to the overall topic. An interview was also added with the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as well as video footage of a judge delivering his judgment in a cartel case.
The 40-minute video comprises an introductory discussion of the nature and economics of cartels, together with graphs, visuals, slides, and other material. The resource was designed initially as a high-quality DVD and was used as supplementary content for lectures in the undergraduate course Economics of the Law. The video resource may be used in tutorials and seminars, and clips from it can be featured on the course website as well in lectures. However, due to the restricted, campus-only viewing license for all of the video content, the video was not repurposed for use beyond the course for which it was designed, which typically comprised 20–30 students.
One significant issue that was encountered and is likely to impact on related future projects is the inclusion of copyright material. Although the University of Melbourne has various arrangements for the use of such material, what is allowed can be unclear, especially in relation to use of such material outside the classroom. For this project, a conservative approach was taken, and with just one exception all copyright material was independently sourced, and a license was purchased. Copyright license fees are extremely expensive even when used only for educational purposes. While greater clarity with respect to copyright issues is needed, in the meantime educators ought to become aware of some of the dangers associated with using copyright material. The production of multiple presentations will not be feasible if academic institutions must pay AUD$20 per second with a minimum of 60 seconds for television footage!
The overall result was a compelling multifaceted overview of cartel conduct in Australia for Economics of the Law students. The qualitative feedback was highly positive—the video was found to broaden students’ knowledge of the traditionally complex and opaque area of cartel conduct and provided a number of important insights from the experts in the field.
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