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Saved by 13 people (1 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-02-20


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New psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person.

Highlighted by mguhlin

New psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person.

Highlighted by emrmisha

New psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person.

Highlighted by markuos

university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person.

Highlighted by blester

Podcasted lectures offer students the chance to replay difficult parts of a lecture and therefore take better notes, says Dani McKinney, a psychologist at the State University of New York in Fredonia, who led the study.

Highlighted by mguhlin

Podcasted lectures offer students the chance to replay difficult parts of a lecture and therefore take better notes

Highlighted by emrmisha

Podcasted lectures offer students the chance to replay difficult parts of a lecture and therefore take better notes

Highlighted by markuos

"It isn't so much that you have a podcast, it's what you do with it," she says.

Highlighted by mguhlin

"It isn't so much that you have a podcast, it's what you do with it," she says.

Highlighted by emrmisha

Launched less than two years ago, Apple's iTunes university offers college lectures on everything from Proust to particle physics to students and the public. Some universities make their lectures available to all, while others restrict access to enrolled students. Some professors even limit downloads to encourage class attendance, McKinney says.

To find out how much students really can learn from podcast lectures alone - mimicking a missed class - McKinney's team presented 64 students with a single lecture on visual perception, from an introductory psychology course.

Highlighted by mguhlin

To find out how much students really can learn from podcast lectures alone - mimicking a missed class - McKinney's team presented 64 students with a single lecture on visual perception, from an introductory psychology course.

Highlighted by markuos

The researchers told the students they would be tested on the material in a week, and they also asked students to hold onto their class notes.

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Students who downloaded the podcast averaged a C (71 out of 100) on the test - substantially better than those who attended the lecture, who on average mustered only a D (62)

Highlighted by emrmisha

Students who downloaded the podcast averaged a C (71 out of 100) on the test - substantially better than those who attended the lecture, who on average mustered only a D (62).

But that difference vanished among students who watched the podcast but did not take notes.Students who listened to the podcast one or more times and took notes had an average score of 77, McKinney says.

Highlighted by mguhlin

Students who downloaded the podcast averaged a C (71 out of 100) on the test - substantially better than those who attended the lecture, who on average mustered only a D (62).

Highlighted by markuos

But that difference vanished among students who watched the podcast but did not take notes.Students who listened to the podcast one or more times and took notes had an average score of 77

Highlighted by emrmisha

But that difference vanished among students who watched the podcast but did not take notes.Students who listened to the podcast one or more times and took notes had an average score of 77

Highlighted by markuos

want to now test how podcasts affect learning across an entire semester, rather than from just a single lecture

Highlighted by markuos

Darren Griffin, a geneticist and education researcher at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK, says podcast lectures are good for lecturers too. They free him up to spend precious class time interacting with his students, rather than just talking at them.

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To further coax them into the classroom, he gives his students brief quizzes before each class. "I get 98% attendance that way," he says.

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'iTunes university'

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I don't like it because it is proprietary and closed source

Highlighted by markuos

On top of that, I can't install it on Linux (hence can't use it for my netbook)

Highlighted by markuos

Some universities are sympathetic to your concern, everything on the University of Oxford's iTunes U site is also available through your browser:

http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/

Highlighted by markuos

itunes on Linux? Have you tried Wine

Highlighted by markuos

You could also use a virtual machine, VirtualBox is a good one

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The mind retains material better when it is processing it simultaneously, such as by writing. From one professor I have spoken with, her class average jumped 20% the year she stopped handing out lecture notes.

The answer to better teaching is not podcasting, it is better teaching. Professors need to relearn the art of professing.

Highlighted by markuos