How Can We Make Science Easy to Understand? Pro Tips from a Science Youtuber

According to The Creator of The Popular Youtube Channel, Professor Dave Explains 

“Frustration occurs when there is a gap in comprehension. But if that gap never occurs, there should be no gap in enthusiasm.” - Dave Farina

If you are a science geek and you love to learn new things via YouTube, there is a good chance you have stumbled upon a channel called Professor Dave Explains. Professor Dave Explains is a popular YouTube channel (currently with 1.93M subscribers) that explains science concepts and phenomenons, from chemistry, biology, physics, to astronomy in both an engaging and in-depth way. It was started in 2015 by Dave Farina, an educator who previously taught science to high school students and undergraduates.

Last month, CoLearners got to meet “Professor Dave” himself! Dave Farina was the special guest at our Learning Day. In a one-hour session, he shared his story of starting the channel and some great tips on how to make students love science.

Infusing the Channel with a Personal Mission

At first, Dave Farina never thought of becoming a full-time content creator. Since teaching was already his main job, he started uploading videos of himself teaching organic chemistry to YouTube to just gain additional passive revenue.

However, along the way, the channel started to gain more attention, both the positive and the negative.

“When you gain more attention on the Internet, you also open up the doors to trolls and negative attention. It bothered me really quickly that I received many comments about anti-science rhetoric,” told Dave.

He then realized that he had the talent to create content that could debunk these anti-science talking points, which had to be a big part of his career.

Dave said, “I devote a good amount of my career to addressing the toxic people that influence our society with lies about science for financial gains. This is a bigger problem than many people realize.”

Finding the Sweet Spot Between Enjoyment and Comprehension

What makes Professor Dave Explains’ videos so popular is the fact that they can be both deep and engaging. While many educational contents are either too fun but not in-depth or deep but boring, Dave manages to be both! He attributes this successful combination to two strategies.

First, he always makes sure the learning process is slow and sequential.

“I believe people naturally enjoy learning. We like to have the mystery solved and questions answered,” said Dave.

However, he continues, students’ enthusiasm declines when there is a gap in comprehension. Dave believes that if that gap never occurs, there should be no gap in enthusiasm.

That is why learning needs to be slow and sequential. Science concepts and phenomena are often complex to understand. Students can get discouraged when they see there are many steps on the ladder. 

According to Dave, “To keep students engaged, they just need to focus on the next rung on the ladder.”

This statement aligns with what the teachers in Colearn believe: to keep students engaged means not to skip any topics in between. Therefore, well-scaffolded instructions and teaching are one of our emphases in designing a lesson.

Second, he combines different components in his videos to appeal to different senses

“Students do not want a Powerpoint slide with only a bunch of texts, but the solution is not to get rid of presentation slides,” said Dave. His solution is to underline certain keywords in his videos and add visual components to them through images or animation. This combination, according to Dave, offers a unique way to help the brain’s neurons fire.

Dave sometimes faces a challenge when having to find a visual illustration for a very abstract concept. If he encounters this problem, he usually takes more time to think.

“I sit and think for a while about how I’m going to illustrate the concept. I ask myself, ‘What do I see in my head when I envision this mechanism or a chemical reaction?’. I want to make sure the audience sees what I see in my head intangible forms,” told Dave.

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With the two strategies, Dave has proven that students can be motivated to learn even the most complex subjects.

“I try to offer students a learning experience that onboard them the whole time to reach a destination. When you retain the comprehension, you retain the enthusiasm.”