Supplementary lecture recording. A stepping stone to inclusion? Wendy Leadbeater*, Vicky Anderson 1, Sue Onens 1 & Karl Nightingale*, Learning Support Team 1 and Medical School * University of Birmingham
Where do educational technologies impact in HE? SGT Labs Lect Independent study lecture flipping Mobile learning Clickers Lecture recording Internet (VLEs) Quizzes Reusable learning objects Modelling RIP textbooks ca. 2010
Audio-visual lecture recordings - Recording (echo360) of voice + Powerpoint slides - Published via Virtual Learning Environment (Internet). Literature suggests: - Popular with students (Abt & Barry, 2007). - Minimal impact on attendance (Davis et al., 2009) - Generally used in targeted way (Soong et al., 2004) - Impact on academic performance (Brookes et al., 2015) Staff concerns: - Reduce attendance ( at the margins?) - Reinforce surface learning / lecture-centric approaches
Background Study: Yrs. 1 & 2 Medicine (2012 - ongoing) Large cohort (~340 students / year) - ~30 students / cohort = Non English Speaking Background - ~15 students disclose as dyslexic (ca. ~5% *) - ~2 students disclose physical / mental disabilities Study design Recorded. & non-rec. modules, questionnaire, focus groups. etc.
80-90% of medics use lecture recordings. Year. 1 2012/13 (n=247 / 342 ) Year. 2 2012/13 (n=235 / 331) Regular users (67%) Non users (19%) Regular users (60%) Non users (12%) No regular use (14%) No regular use (28%)
and broadly use them in a targeted (strategic) manner... How many do you download / module? 1 or 2 (64%) All (9%) Most (27%) How much do you listen per recording? 1-15 min 15min - 1 hr 1-2 hrs >2hrs When do you download recordings? Within 1-2 days (13%) Within 7 days (29%) Up to several months later (58%) nil in term Year. 1 (n=247 / 342) nil 0 20 40 60 80 Responses
But a significant number of these students face academic difficulties... Definitely agree 8% Mostly agree 17% I have problems taking notes in lectures... Neutral or disagree 75% Yr. 1 2012/13 n = 245 M&P disability n = 5 Definitely agree 0% NESB n = 43 Definitely agree 5r, 12% Dyslexic n = 12 Definitely agree 3r, 25% Mostly agree 2r, 40% Mostly agree 10r, 23% Neutral or disagree 3r, 60% Neutral or disagree 28r, 65% Neutral or disagree 6r, 50% Mostly agree 3r, 25%
... and this seems to drive how much recordings are accessed. I have problems taking notes in lectures... Nil n = 72 Definitely agree 2r, 3% Mostly agree 7r, 10% <15 min n = 45 Definitely agree 3r, 7% Mostly agree 4r, 9% 15-1 hr n = 81 Definitely agree 4r, 5% Mostly agree 13r, 16% Neutral or disagree 62r, 87% Neutral or disagree 38r, 84% Neutral or disagree 64r, 79% Yr. 1 & 2 n = 482 1-2 hrs n = 94 Definitely agree 10r, 11% >2 hrs n = 42 Definitely agree 8r, 20% Neutral or disagree 64r, 68% Mostly agree 20r, 21% Neutral or disagree 20r, 50% Mostly agree 12r, 30%
We find dyslexic students use recordings more than the cohort. How many do you download / module? 1 or 2 (64%) All (9%) Most (27%) How much do you listen per recording? <10 min 10-30 min 30-60 min > 1 hr When do you download recordings? Nil Within 1-2 days (33%) Several months later (50%) 0 2 4 6 Student responses Within 7 days (17%) Dyslexic 2012/13 Yrs 1 + 2 (n=12)
Exam grades Exam grades Exam grades Exam grades and in Yr. 2 dyslexic students seem to do better in recorded modules Non recorded modules Recorded modules 100 100 80 80 60 60 40 40 20 CAN 20 IIH 0 0 Dyslexia NESB Cohort Dyslexia NESB Cohort 100 100 80 80 60 60 40 20 0 BAB CVS Dyslexia NESB Cohort Dyslexia NESB Cohort 40 20 0 MBChB Yr 2 (2012-13) Dys n=8 NESB n=19 Cohort n=116
Study: Is lecture recording an appropriate support? Aim(s) Examine whether supplementary lecture recordings can increase dyslexic student s academic performance in exams Approach - Replicate academic practice (lecture revise exam) - Compare two forms of learning support: textbook vs. lecture rec - Focus on lecture notes Study design. (i) Exams (ii) Analysis of notes (iii) Questionnaires (iv) Focus groups
Dyslexic students experience academic problems. I have problems taking notes in lectures Are any of these problems? Definitely agree nil Mostly agree 12% r = 6 My notes are difficult to read My notes are often incomplete Neurotypical Dyslexic Neutral or disagree 88% r = 44 Neurotypical Writing & understanding I am often distracted Neutral or disagree 28% r = 13 Definitely agree 13%, r = 6 Lecturer talks too fast Dyslexic Mostly agree 59%, r = 27 Neurotypical (n=52) Dyslexic (n=46) Student engagement with activity (%)
but find a variety of solutions Do you download materials before lectures? How do you address these difficulties? Frequently 20% Neurotypical Neurotypical Use a textbook Use e-resources from course Dyslexic Sometimes 20% Never 59% Use internet resources Use friend s notes Digital voice recorder Frequently 35% Never 29% Student engagement (%) Dyslexic Sometimes 36%
..study longer, and engage with non-text learning materials. Average study time / day in term What do you use for independent study? 15-30 mins 30-60 mins 1-2 hrs 2-3 hrs Neurotypical Dyslexic Lecture recordings Textbooks Audio recordings Suggested / additional reading Address problems / confusions >3 hrs Write up my notes 60 40 20 Student response (%) Student engagement with activity (%)
42 Dyslexic students 52 Neurotypical students Data formats Day 1 Exam (Previous knowledge) Lecture (~50 mins) Academic performance (I) ~ 1 month Independent study Textbook Textbook + Lecture rec. Day 2 Questionnaire Exam Focus groups (Dyslexic or NT students) Quantitative data (Student use, etc.) Academic performance (II) Qualitative data
Exam Marks (%) Overall, Neurotypical and dyslexic students perform equally well 100.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Neurotypical Dyslexic Neurotypical (Before) 30.7 +/- 16.1 Neurotypical (After) 63.4 +/- 17.9 Dyslexic (Before) 33.4 +/- 18.2 Dyslexic (after) 58.8 +/- 17.7 Before lecture After Before 100.00 lecture lecture After Lecture Dyslexic
Increase in Marks and learning is equal whether using the textbook or lecture recording 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00-20.00 Neurotypical students (n=52) ns Notes *** *** ns Lecture Rec Textbook Notes Dyslexic students (n=42) ** *** Lecture Rec Textbook Non-dyslexic (notes only) 22.50 +/- 13.32 Non-dyslexic (recording ) 35.52 +/- 21.56 Non-dyslexic (text books) 35.38 +/- 15.93 Dyslexic (notes only) 15.00 +/-15.00 Dyslexic (recording) 23.33 +/- 19.05 Dyslexic (text book) 31.25 +/- 18.95
Pace of delivery Just like being able to write something down, sort of helps you process it. I end up hearing about the first half of the sentence and then the rest of what they say I miss because I have been trying to get it down. I go away and end up having to look up what might have been said rather than having heard and understood it. Terminology If it isn t written on the side of the slide or something and is difficult to spell you re so busy working out how to write it down you ve forgotten or missed what the lecturer was saying. Slides & hand-outs Quite a lot of lecturers might just describe the diagram which is good but you always need writing as well. It s hard if you re trying to write it all in a small space. Supplementing lecture notes I d look on Google. I think interactive stuff is quite good, internet sites that make you do things or at least see it.
Use of text books (Dyslexic Students) I looked at the text and it took me 2 hours to read it. I was so, so worried as I wouldn t really give that much time to one lecture. I looked at certain pages and thought if I even try to read that I won t retain it so I m not going to bother. In an ideal world if I had time to sit there go through it annotate it, like if I had a day it would have been fine but because we just don t have the time. I prefer to Google or listen to it. I just don t have time to sit there reading pages and pages of text. I normally record though I don t tend to go through them all because it takes too long. I go back and listen to specific parts of the lecture again. I use it as a last resort if I can t find what I need. Sometimes it gives you too much information, stuff that you don t need to know for an exam so it s sometimes hard to look for what you are looking for. We get examined basically on the slides so it s not a vast amount. It s not about reading things so I find it s like getting everything down that s on the slides then onto the next lecture but there s just so many.
Lecture recordings (Dyslexic students) I think the benefits were you could go at your own pace and so keep going through a concept until you get it. The idea of sitting and listening to a recording is less daunting than going through a text book. You can control at what pace you learn, whereas in a lecture you have to go at the lecturer s pace which is sometimes difficult. You can pause and resume so there s more flexibility. The slides were quite bitty in giving you enough information but then when I listened to the recording, it made more sense. You just choose the bits you want to go back over so I think that it s a thankless task to listen to the whole thing unless you re going to just have it going in the background somehow.
Lecture recordings (Non-dyslexic students) I don t actually have time to sit and listen back to the 2 hour lectures again, because not only does it take 2 hours but then I also have to pause it and write it, pause it write it, and its like 4 hours to do one lecture and I ve got 11 of them. It just not possible. I d use them for revision but not during the term. I read though the text I was given and then listened to it again and the amount of sense it made was better. It was ridiculous how much more I understood so the fact that I had got both actually really helped me so I might consider recording lectures in the future. It was an asset to have the audio recording, I still would have read the text but it was an asset to have.
Summary (1) Dyslexic students have a number of difficulties learning from lectures - Issues around note taking - Linked to academic performance? (Non-dys vs dys. p=.004) (2) The exam data suggest: - Students learn from supplementary lecture recordings - And these appear to be better than lecture notes alone [But.] - Textbooks may be better support materials (3) Focus group data suggest dyslexic students prefer lecture recordings
Thanks Funding Centre for Academic Learning & Development. U. B ham Echo360 Active Learning Grant Partners Aston University University of Coventry Birmingham City University