Pre-recorded videos usually lead to improved student learning, according to a recent study published in Review of Educational Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
The study analyzed 105 past randomized trials – 7,776 students in total – that had looked at the effects of videos on learning compared to the effects of other teaching mediums, such as in-person lectures and assigned readings.
Findings showed that using video instead of other teaching methods resulted in small improvements in student learning, whereas using video in addition to other teaching methods resulted in larger improvements.
“Overall, when students got videos instead of the usual forms of teaching, the average grade increased from a B to a B+,” said lead study author Dr. Michael Noetel, a senior lecturer at the Australian Catholic University. “When they got videos in addition to their existing classes, the effect was even stronger, moving students from a B to an A.”
The study’s other authors were Shantell Griffith, Dr. Taren Sanders, Dr. Philip D. Parker, Dr. Borja del Pozo Cruz and Dr. Chris Lonsdale from Australian Catholic University and Oscar Delaney from the University of Queensland.
The initial expectation was that face-to-face instruction would prove more effective, given that it could allow for more interaction and for educators to adjust their teaching pace to the class, said Noetel. But that wasn’t what the researchers found.
“We found that, even when you swapped a face-to-face lecturer or tutorial or whatever you were doing at university for a video, you got a small but significant improvement in student learning,” he said. “That was a lower effect than swapping online textbook with a video, where the video was much better than just the online text or the journal article that you’re instructed to read.”
