Abstract
This paper investigated the video viewing habits of students in a sophomore-level, online Mechanics of Materials (MoM) course offered in Spring 2017 and how those habits affected student course grades. Data on student engagement and viewership were collected from a MoM course through a learning management system. This data was compared with length of videos, video content, and video types. With viewership being the focus of the study, it was determined that student engagement decreased over the semester, the content of a video affected its viewership, and viewing rates fluctuated depending on the exam. The other finding was that an increase in viewership tended to indicate an improvement in students’ grades. While the videos are an effective means of improving students’ course grade, changes could be made to improve the videos and increase engagement.
Highlights
Online classes are becoming progressively more prevalent [2], so prevalent that there are entire universities dedicated to them [1]
The present study investigated student-viewing behaviors in an online Mechanics of Materials (MoM) university class
The linear dotted trend line shows that average engagement lowered as the class progressed throughout the semester (Figure 1)
Summary
Online classes are becoming progressively more prevalent [2], so prevalent that there are entire universities dedicated to them [1]. Students enrolled in online classes often only interact with professors through online materials provided for them, and the quality and quantity of that information can influence how well students learn. Factors such as length, information density, and format of online material can have a significant impact on student learning. This paper investigated how student-viewing habits of materials provided in a course affect course grades. Issues such as students viewing only parts of videos, choosing to focus on one form of a video over another, and engaging to various degrees in materials provided may have a significant impact on their final grade. It is important to understand how students view videos, and to know of recommendations that will help them improve their performance
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