Jess Griffiths, our Learning Technologist pointed out an interesting publication suggesting that students do better using podcasts than learning from lectures. It’s an unexpected result from my position as both a lecturer and a podcaster and very interesting.
The researchers set a lecture for a group of students purely for testing this, with half of the students getting the lecture and the other half getting the podcast plus printed handouts. I’d argue that the podcast was merely a recording of the lecture alongside pictures of the slides rather than a standalone podcast. “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.”
Can I skip giving my lecture this afternoon then, please? I recorded it last year already. I guess we’d all miss out on the post-lecture quiz though, which the boys again really need to win this afternoon.
Read more about this study on the New Scientist website.
