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What does the research say about Lecture Capture?

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This article explores how lecture capture impacts current classrooms, its students, and instructors. Previously, research mainly focused on questions regarding whether lecture capture was good or bad. This article looks beyond that scope and aims to address concerns that come with implementing lecture capture. This includes concerns about student and instructor habits, how lecture capture affects courses, and how different types of courses in return affect the impact of lecture capture. 

This guide includes:

  1. Students may (or may not) stop attending lecture. But that might be ok!
  2. Lecture capture helps students' stress and grades. 
  3. Will my course be suited for lecture capture? 
  4. Does year of program matter? 
  5. Does lecture capture affect teaching?

1. Students may (or may not) stop attending lecture. But that might be ok!

Several studies(1)(2)(3)(5) conclude that students mainly use lecture capture as a supplement and attending live lectures is still the main component of their learning. Some studies have even found that students attend lectures more after introducing lecture capture (up to 5.4%).(5)(4) However, most studies do include a small percentage of students who use lecture capture as a live lecture replacement, but comparing this to the usual decrease in attendance as the semester goes on, it's not a big deal.(4) It might even be beneficial to certain students; some students who used lecture capture as a replacement had the highest grades in their class.(2) Overall, a majority of students use lecture capture as a supplement and being in classrooms is still a big part of student life. 

References: 

  1. Karnard, A. (2013). Student use of recorded lectures http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/Karnad_Student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf
  2. Owston, R., Lupshenyuk, D., & Wideman, H. (2011). Lecture capture in large undergraduate classes: Student perceptions and academic performance https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751611000418 
  3. Danielson, J., Preast, V., Bender, H., & Hassall, L. (2014) Is the effectiveness of lecture capture related to teaching approach or content type? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131513003011 
  4. Franklin, D., Gibson, J., Samuel, J., Teeter, W., & Clarkson, C. (2011) Use of Lecture Recordings in Medical Education https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03341590 
  5. Edwards, M., & Clinton, M. (2019) A study exploring the impact of lecture capture availability and lecture capture usage on student attendance and attainment https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-018-0275-9

2. Lecture capture helps students and their grades.

Many students use lecture capture to their advantage and this results in better learning. Students often use lecture capture as a safety net. Lecture content is available when life gets in the way and lectures are missed or when written notes are unclear or missing. A vast majority of students find lecture capture helpful to catch up on missed content, and to have a direct way to review in preparation for examinations and assignments.(1)(2) Lecture capture offers flexibility(6) for students as they can review content in a way that works best for them which can make difficult content seem easier.(2)(3) On top of students believing that lecture capture helps them study, research also supports that viewing lecture capture content helps them get better grades.(1)(2)(3)(4)(5) 

References:

1. Karnard, A. (2013) Student use of recorded lectures http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/Karnad_Student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf

2. Cooke M., Watson B., Blacklock E., Mansah M., Howard M., Johnston A., Tower M. & Murfield J. (2012) Lecture Capture: First year student nurses' experiences of a web based lecture technology https://www.ajan.com.au/archive/Vol29/29-3_Cooke.pdf 

3. Owston, R., Lupshenyuk, D., & Wideman, H. (2011). Lecture capture in large undergraduate classes: Student perceptions and academic performance https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751611000418

4. Aldamen H. (2015) Does Lecture Capturing Impact Student Performance and Attendance in an Introductory Accounting Course? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09639284.2015.1043563

5. Brooks C., Erickson J., Greer J., & Gutwin C. (2014) Modelling and quantifying the behaviours of students in lecture capture environments https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131514000591

6. Danielson J., Preast V., Bender H., & Hassall L. (2014) Is the effectiveness of lecture capture related to teaching approach or content type? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131513003011

3. Some courses are better suited for lecture capture.

Students are most likely to view recorded lectures (as a supplement to attending lectures) for courses that they find hard and important to their future.(1) Although there is little research done about how different lecture content affects the impact of lecture capture, one study found that courses with more memorization and fact focused content is correlated to higher use of lecture recordings and higher grades.(1)  

References:

1. Danielson J., Preast V., Bender H., & Hassall L. (2014) Is the effectiveness of lecture capture related to teaching approach or content type? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131513003011

4. Does year of program or age of students affect anything?

A few studies have found lower years, in general, seem to be impacted more from lecture capture. The amount of lecture capture usage by lower years seems to be a good indicator of higher grades. However, this idea does not apply to higher years.(1) Younger students in a first-year class view lecture capture to be the most helpful while older students (22-30 years old) don't find lecture capture to be more effective than attending regular live lectures.(2) Generally, lecture capture appears to be more beneficial to lower years but more research is needed.

References:

1. Nordmann E., Calder C., Bishop P., Irwin A., & Comber D. (2018) Turn up, tune in, don't drop out: the relationship between lecture attendance, use of lecture recordings, and achievement at different levels of study. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-018-0320-8

2. Cooke M., Watson B., Blacklock E., Mansah M., Howard M., Johnston A., Tower M. & Murfield J. (2012) Lecture Capture: First year student nurses' experiences of a web based lecture technology http://www.ajan.com.au/Vol29/29-3.pdf#page=15

5. Lecture capture may have an effect on instructors too!

Some instructors have said lecture capture didn’t affect them at all, while others have said lecture capture impacted the way they teach due to the “caught on camera” effect. This influenced some instructors to plan lectures more thoughtfully and carefully, to search for stronger evidence behind their course content, and to use more contemporary sources. The effect also made some instructors feel as if they had to lessen their humour and informal discussions, decreasing the relational nature of teaching. Even with these mixed behaviours and opinions, overall it was found that lecture capture lessens the workload burden of instructors while effectively increasing student support as course content is available and accessible by students at any time.

References: 

1. Joseph-Richard P., Jessop T., Okafor G., Almpanis T., & Price D. (2018) Big brother or harbinger of best practice: Can lecture capture actually improve teaching? https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/berj.3336 

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