Three teaching things: week of June 13
This week: dangers for learners of relying (too much) on recorded lectures; a list of higher ed podcasts for your listening pleasure and; teaching while masked.
Issue #51
1. A study exploring the impact of lecture capture availability and lecture capture usage on student attendance and attainment.
This paper offers a cautionary tale: students who rely on viewing recorded videos of lectures (recorded and offered via a lecture capture system) instead of attending class seem to have worse outcomes than those who attend class.
The effect of reduced attendance, and cramming videos seems to be the mechanism at play here. This statement (p. 16) about the study’s findings stood out:
Therefore, on an aggregate basis, we find that lecture capture usage itself will not necessarily help students increase their grades; students who are generally higher achievers who attend lectures are likely to get better grades regardless of their lecture capture usage; in contrast, students who do not attend are likely to get lower grades regardless of their lecture capture usage.
The study is an interesting one, as lecture capture was introduced at the University with a cohort under study, and the outcomes of that cohort was compared to the achievement of a pre-lecture-capture cohort studying the same material. No educational research is ever perfect, and I do think the cautions of students putting too much faith in the value of a recorded lecture is valuable. I do wonder, however, if these results would be different with a cohort who had multiple courses with lecture capture.
Regardless, this closing statement from the authors is valuable guidance for those teaching in lecture-capture-enhanced classroom spaces: “…it is important to clearly communicate that the idea of binge-viewing lecture capture content during revision period can make up for severe absence is likely to be misguided” (p. 18).
Edwards, M. R., & Clinton, M. E. (2018). A study exploring the impact of lecture capture availability and lecture capture usage on student attendance and attainment. Higher Education, 24(4), 291–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0275-9
2. Higher Ed Podcasts
Looking for new work-related listen? Dr. Erika Smith (MRU, Calgary, Canada) has curated a comprehensive list of podcasts with a focus somewhere across higher ed (categories include academia, technology & online teaching, equity, diversity, & inclusion ).
3. How to Teach F2F With a Mask and Create Caring Classrooms
I’m imagining what a return to in-person teaching will feel like this Fall. That includes what teaching with masks will look and feel like. I found this column by Dr. Jamie Landau (VSU, Georgia, USA) published last August Inside Higher Ed to be helpful by detailing key challenges (e.g., “masks stifle speech and sound”) and possible solutions (including the bonus resource, embedded below, on speaking with a mask while instructing).
FWIW, this Fall at my institution we’re expecting that instructors who can ensure physical distancing won’t wear masks to ensure accessibility, but this whole column is still helpful to consider what I could consider.
Three Teaching Things is a weekly newsletter compiled by Gavan Watson, which shares three different teaching and learning resources (papers, resources or tools) worth your attention.
Thanks for reading!