Students’ Perceptions of Lecture Capture in University Math Classes for Engineers Rim Gouia-Zarrad
Cindy L Gunn
Department of Mathematics & Statistics American University of Sharjah Sharjah, UAE
[email protected]
Faculty Development Center American University of Sharjah Sharjah, UAE
[email protected]
Abstract— This paper investigates the use of lecture capture in undergraduate Math classes for Engineers at American University of Sharjah, UAE. In addition to tracking the students’ viewing behavior and determining their reasons for viewing the videos, the main focus of the research is to discover whether or not the students view the recorded class videos as a necessary support to enhance their learning. Keywords—lecture capture, Math for Engineers
I. INTRODUCTION Lecture capture is the term generally used to describe the recording of a lecture and then placing the lecture online for the students to view any time, and as often as they like, after the class. The students and professor are in the same physical location during the lecture and the lectures are generally not available for real-time streaming if the students are absent from class. In recent years advancements in technology have made it more convenient and more affordable for professors to capture their lectures and share them with their students. Some universities have made it mandatory that all lectures are recorded and posted for the students. This mandate, as expected, has been met with mixed reactions from the faculty. At American University of Sharjah the use of lecture capture remains at the discretion of the faculty member. A. Why Lecture Capture? In their [1] review of numerous studies investigating students’ perceptions of the value of lecture capture they found that students overwhelming find the availability of lecture capture in their courses to be benefit their learning and prefer to take classes that offer lecture capture. This is not surprising given the usage experience and expertise today’s students have with technology [2]. Various studies indicate that the benefits to the students include a better understanding of the material and increased student satisfaction. The benefits to non-native speakers of the language of instruction also benefit greatly from having access to the captured lectures [3]. Although there are numerous video resources from the web students like videos prepared by their instructor and are more likely to view them than an assigned video prepared by someone else [4]. Many faculty express concern that posted lectures will be an incentive for students not to attend class [5], [6], [7], [8]. However, several studies have found that student attendance is
not impacted by the availability of the posted lectures after the class [2], [9], [10], [11]. Viewing of the videos by the students, as expected, often peaks at exam time [12], [13] with some studies reporting that there is minimal viewing through the rest of the semester [12] and others showing steady and regular viewing throughout the semester [9]. In addition, it has been shown that videos were accessed more by graduate students than undergraduate students [14] and that women watch the videos more than men [12], [7]. Topic difficulty has also been identified as a reason why students view the captured lectures with students reporting that the more difficulty they find the topic, the more likely they are to view the video after class [7]. As noted above, many studies have reported on students’ positive perceptions of the usefulness of lecture capture. At American University of Sharjah, in Sharjah, UAE, the use of lecture capture is still not common place. The facilities are available but it is up to the individual faculty member to take advantage of them. For the authors of this paper, the advantages of lecture capture far outweigh the disadvantages and in this paper share their experience using lecture in undergraduate Math classes. In this research, the authors set out to discover if the students view the recorded class videos as a necessary support to enhance their learning. II. THE LECTURE CAPTURE EXPERIENCE AT AUS American University of Sharjah is a private, co-educational university in the United Arab Emirates with a student body of approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing more than 90 nationalities. English is the language of instruction and students must have a minimum TOEFL score of 5.5 to enroll directly into their majors. Students come from numerous school system backgrounds and with varying degrees of preparation for university mathematics classes and many first year students struggle in these classes. To help the students overcome some of the challenges they face in MTH 103, the lead author began to record her lectures and post them for her students. MTH 103, which covers limits, derivatives and integrals, is a required course for students in Engineering. She was teaching two sections with a total enrollment of 70 male and female students. She recorded one section and made the recording available to both sections. The recordings were housed on the AUS video portal and link to the recording was then posted on the learning management system.
Viewing of the videos was optional and not linked to any inclass assignments. She explained to the students that the videos were being provided as an optional learning tool and the students would not get credit for watching them or get penalized for not watching them. In spite of there being no direct grade attached to the videos, 85% of the male students and 87% of the female students enrolled in the classes clicked on the links and presumable watched part or all of the videos. In addition to the students in the lead author’s own class viewing the videos, other students from other sections of MTH 103 spoke to her informally to talk about the videos and asked to watch them. Her students also reported that they had been asked by their friends to view the videos. From the statistics tracking report available via the course LMS it could be seen that 7,889 views of the videos were logged over the course of the semester. Upon further investigation, as shown in table 1 and figure 1, it could be seen that all the students, regardless of their standing in the class, were viewing the videos. The number of hits by students in the D and F category also shows that viewing of the videos does not guarantee a passing grade in the course. TABLE I. Grades
for this could be that these students allowed students from other classes to use their accounts to view the videos. TABLE II. Grades
Average number of hits
Numbers of students
A
38.6
5
A-
44.2
6
B+
38.9
7
B
80.3
3
B-
17
1
C+
41
4
C
52
6
C-
36.5
6
D
37.5
4
F
10
2
Total Average: 42.1
Total number of Students: 44
AVERAGE NUMBER OF VIEWING HITS BY FINAL GRADE
Average number of hits
AVERAGE NUMBER OF VIEWING HITS FILTERED BY < 100 OVER FINAL GRADE
Numbers of students
A
51.5
6
A-
54.1
7
B+
59.1
9
B
125
5
B-
102
3
C+
124.5
8
C
136.6
10
C-
98.9
7
Fig. 2. Filtered < 100 distribution of number of hits by grade level.
D
183.9
9
F
171.2
6
Total Average: 112.7
Total number of Students: 70
To get a better understanding of the students’ perceptions of the availability of the videos, the students in both sections were asked to fill out a short survey at the end of the course. 41 male students and 24 female students filled out the survey. All 65 students agreed that the videos were useful and 93% of them viewed the videos as a necessary support to enhance their learning. When asked to elaborate on why they felt the videos were a necessary support, some of the comments included:
Fig. 1. Unfiltered number of hits over final grades
We were surprised at the number of hits by students who received a D or F grade so the distribution was filtered to show the hits of less than 100 by grade level. As shown in table 2 and figure 2, the average number of hits goes down for the D level students to 37.5 and to 10 for the F grade students. One reason
In the 21 century, technology is a necessity.
I managed to fix my notes and go over the materials more than once. The videos help me understand the material better.
They are useful because if any student didn’t attend the class because of illness, he can watch the video.
They are useful because it is easier for me to watch the video rather than research and google my questions which may lead me to a wrong or incomplete answer.
They help experience.
in
completing
the
educational
The students were given four reasons for watching the videos taken from the literature and asked to rank their reasons for viewing the videos from 1 – 4. As shown in figure 3, improving their understanding, was the main priority for many of them followed by reviewing for quizzes and exams, completing their notes and catching up after being absent. It is useful to note that being absent was the fourth priority for students which further supports other findings in the literature that access to recorded lectures does not increase absenteeism.
As one student stated: “I have no negative comments. The videos are such a necessary tool. They are the key to students’ success”. REFERENCES [1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6] Fig. 3. Students’ reasons for watching the videos
The students were also asked if not having their class recorded impacted their viewing of the videos. Most said it did not. Some students commented that the classes were at the same level so it made no difference. A student who said it did impact her viewing of the videos stated that the sometimes the explanations were different from what she had in her notes so found it difficult to follow along with the video.
[7]
Four students offered one suggestion to improve the videos having to do with improving the angles of the camera. The camera was mounted on the ceiling and was supposed to move smoothly with the professor but this was not always the case. Several students also suggested that the videos be housed on youtube. As one student commented: “I had friends ask me for my account to view the videos. I you put on YouTube, trust me, you will help at least 60% of all students who are taking with other professors. Students will pass because of your videos.
[9]
[8]
[10]
[11] [12]
CONCLUSION
This study was done with students in university math classes in the United Arab Emirates. However, the participating students’ overwhelming support for the inclusion of recorded class videos to support their learning has important implications for students around the world. The students could see the value of the class videos as a tool to help them better understand the subject matter and agreed that the videos were indeed a necessary support to have available to them. Having access to the videos did not encourage the students to skip classes.
[13]
[14]
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