The perennial question “What do Students Want?” often gets asked in way that provide results that contradict expectations. Sometimes the first answer turns out to be wrong. Sarah Brittain and colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry have an interesting report in the Fall 2006 Educause Quarterly that explores audio versus video recording of course lectures.
At some point in their educations, students must learn copious amounts of information. To do this, they use a variety of well-known strategies such as study groups, note-taking services, and videotapes of lectures. In fall 2004, a group of first-year dental students at the University of Michigan (U-M) School of Dentistry asked to have all dental school lectures videotaped and recordings made available on a Web site. The students’ doubted their ability to accurately summarize in their notes the quantity of information presented in lectures. The students thought that reviewing a video recording of each lecture would help them better retain the biomedical information presented.
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In response to the students’ request, the Dental Informatics group applied formative evaluation strategies to determine the ultimate solution. The group determined that podcasting (see the sidebar) audio recordings of lectures provided a better technology solution for the students’ needs than the originally requested video recordings.
From: Sarah Brittain, Pietrek Glowacki, Jared Van Ittersum, and Lynn Johnson, Formative evaluation strategies helped identify a solution to a learning dilemma,
Educause Quarterly, Fall 2003. http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm06/eqm0634.asp