A comparison of instructor‐generated videos of either an instructor alone or an instructor and a student: Student performance, attitudes, and preferences

Abstract

Increasingly, college biology courses are transitioning to active learning spaces where students are asked to learn content outside of class so that they come prepared to apply their content knowledge to problems during class. While students are traditionally asked to learn content through reading the textbook, studies have shown that a different method of content delivery, watching instructor‐generated videos, may be more satisfying for students. Previous lab studies suggest that students learn more when watching instructor‐generated videos about science content that feature an instructor tutoring a student compared with videos that feature only an instructor. However, this hypothesis has never been tested in the context of a college science course. In this study, conducted in an active‐learning, upper‐level, large‐enrollment (n = 280) college physiology course, we explored students preferences of instructor‐generated videos with only an instructor teaching physiology (Instructor Only Videos) and videos with an instructor tutoring a student (Instructor‐Student Videos), as well as the effect of the different types of videos on student performance on weekly physiology quizzes. In this crossover research design, students were randomly assigned to either Group A‐ which watched Instructor Only Videos for the first four weeks and Instructor‐Student Videos for the next four weeks or Group B‐ which watched Instructor‐Student Videos for the first four weeks and Instructor‐Only Videos for the next four weeks. Students watched a single video each week as a pre‐class assignment and then completed a weekly, in‐class physiology quiz based on the information presented in the video. Students also completed a survey at the end of the semester about their opinions of the different types of videos. We analyzed student open‐ended and closed‐ended survey responses and weekly physiology quiz scores and found that the majority of students preferred watching the Instructor Only Videos because the videos presented information in a clear and direct way and enhanced students' perceived understanding of the material. We also found that students enjoyed and valued the Instructor Only Videos significantly more than the Instructor‐Student Videos. In contrast with our hypothesis that students would perform better on physiology quizzes after watching Instructor‐Student Videos, students with a GPA below the median (3.49) performed significantly better on physiology quizzes after watching the Instructor Only Videos compared with the Instructor Student Videos. There was no difference in student physiology quiz scores after watching Instructor Only Videos or Instructor‐Student Videos for students with a GPA above the median. We hope that these findings can help inform the development of instructor‐generated videos to promote student engagement and performance in biology.Support or Funding InformationNSF Award #1504893This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.