The effectiveness of pre-lecture videos has resulted in an increase in their popularity among instructors teaching introductory STEM courses. Used effectively, pre-lecture videos increase student preparation for lectures, enabling instructors to carve out more in-class time for evidence-based practices – such as active learning and group work – that lead to improved learning outcomes. There are two significant challenges associated with assigning out-of-class videos: (1) students tend to engage passively with typical educational videos, leading to their reduced utility and attenuated learning gains; and (2) many students choose to skip assigned video (or reading) content entirely, since there are rarely accountability measures built in to enforce effective engagement. To maximize student learning, pre-lecture assignments should to be interactive and engage students in problem solving. Previous work established that students studying from question-embedded videos (QEVs) significantly outperform students studying from comparable textbook excerpts on the same topics and with the same examples. This study builds on those findings to investigate the role of the QEVs in addressing the engagement and accountability of students in their preparation by comparing identical QEVs to traditional (passive, non-question-embedded videos). In this presentation we present the results of a mixed methods study to compare the outcomes between students using content-equivalent resources for class preparation: textbook readings, traditional (passive) videos, and question-embedded videos (QEVs). While all of the cohorts were statistically indistinguishable at the outset, the group of students working from QEVs significantly outperformed the students who watched the identical traditional (passive) videos or textbook readings. More interestingly, the students studying from passive videos showed no significant difference in post-test scores compared to students using textbook readings or the negative control group. These results suggest that assigning passive videos is not sufficient to yield maximum learning gains for students; rather, assigning out-of-class work with QEVs leads to substantially greater learning gains.

Improving out-of-class student learning with question-embedded educational videos

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.