Lecture Capture Impact

Over the years, we have had questions about how Podcast (Lecture Capture, LC) might be beneficial to learning. So, we would like to share a 2015 article by Witthaus and Robinson, entitled "Lecture Capture Literature Review: A review of the literature from 2012 to 2015" (opens as a Word doc).

Overall, they found that there are no absolutes and using LC depends on context (discipline, class size, student level, etc.); how LC is used; how students are guided to use LC; and of course Course Design.

Executive Summary: This report was written to provide a snapshot of how lecture capture (LC) is currently being used in higher education. It draws from literature published internationally between 2012 and 2015. The aim was to provide indicative findings that could inform day-to-day practice. The research questions:

1. What percentage of students use LC when it is available?

2. How are students using LC? Which types of LC are viewed, to what extent, and what experiences are reported by students?

3. What advice is given to students about the use of LC by lecturers, and what is the students’ experience of following this advice?

4. Has LC been shown to have any impact on student learning?

5. What impact, if any, does LC have on attendance at lectures?

6. Are there examples of lecturers changing the way they teach as a result of LC? Have these changes been found to have any influence on student learning?

1. There is a wide range in students who used LC, from 21% to 100%. A few studies found that usage increased when LC were “enriched” with online materials. There were examples of different usage patterns across different years of study, with first-year students either watching more LCs than students in later years or watching less. 2. LC is most often used for revision and note taking. Almost all respondents claimed to use LC as a supplement to, rather than replacement for, lectures. Most students use LC selectively, choosing specific sections. A small number watch the entire LC–often speakers of English as a second language. 3. Impact on learning findings are varied. Some found little or no evidence of any impact. Two examples were found of the provision of LC having a negative impact, in these cases, students who used LC as a substitute for attendance were found to be at a severe disadvantage in terms of their final marks; moreover, those students who attended very few lectures did not close the gap by watching more LC. In one study, the quality of student interaction in class dropped when LC was introduced, as students were reluctant to speak when being recorded. 4. There were situations in which a positive relationship was found between the use of LC and learning outcomes. Students perceive the greatest value for LC in courses that move quickly, rely heavily on lectures, and for which the information provided via lectures is not readily available from any other sources. 5. A positive relationship was identified between learners who used LC and certain approaches to learning. In one paper (Brooks et al, 2014), learners were categorised according to their usage patterns (i.e. how often they viewed the LCs, and at which points in the semester), it was found that “High Activity” students outperformed peers by up to 16%, while students in other clusters obtained more or less the same grades as each other. 6. The overwhelming majority students say they do NOT view recorded lectures as a replacement for attendance. In one case, increased attendance at lectures was reported, on the basis that learners felt more confident about their grasp of the subject matter from having viewed the LCs. However, in several studies, lower attendance at lectures was found to be a direct result of implementing LC. There is some discussion in the literature about contributing factors, especially around the notion that learners who skip lectures tend to be “surface learners” and these learners do not generally compensate for missing lectures by watching the LC.