Comparing the effectiveness of online versus live lecture demonstrations

Abstract

Nearly every introductory physics or chemistry course includes live lecture demonstrations, which can range from simple illustrations of a pendulum to elaborate productions with specialized apparatus and highly trained demonstrators. Students and instructors often consider "demos" to be among the highlights of these classes. Yet, in some situations demos may be cumbersome, inaccessible, or otherwise unavailable, and online video demos could offer a convenient alternative. We compared the effectiveness of live demonstrations with online videos under controlled conditions in the first semester of an introductory physics (mechanics) course. Students were randomly assigned to view either a live or video version of two demos. The same instructor presented both versions of the demo using an identical script, keeping the same time on task across both conditions, but with small differences in presentation appropriate to the medium. Compared with the students who saw the live demos, the students who watched the online videos learned more, and their self-reported enjoyment was just as high. We discuss reasons why videos helped students to learn more, including that they are more likely to make correct observations from the video. These results suggest that videos could provide students with an equally effective learning experience when live demos are unavailable. Indeed, even when live demonstrations are available, it may be beneficial to supplement them with online presentations.

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“…By asking probing questi-ons and assisting while having the students watch what happened during the demonstration, the instructor helped the students develop their knowledge base. This confirms the findings of Kestin et al (2020) that IDL can help the students to understand the underlying phenomena and concepts by asking them to make predictions of the outcome and then discuss them with each other.…”

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“…There have been some studies comparing having only traditional live lectures and having only video lectures [8,9,12,13] with mixed results. Already in 1980, Paegle et al [12] compared video lectures to traditional lectures.…”

“…They found that there were no differences between the groups with regards to exam scores, but that the group with videos found the videos helpful. In a study by Kestin et al [9] in an introductory physics course, students were randomly split into two groups, where one group had live demonstrations and the other video demonstrations. They found that students who watched the video demonstrations performed better in multiple-choice questions related to the demonstration, and that students' enjoyment of the demonstrations was equal.…”

“…Based on the related work presented here, having both live lectures and videos of those lectures seems to be the best option as most studies found that video lectures are at least as beneficial for learning as live lectures [8,9,12,13,18], even though students might prefer live lectures [3,12,13].…”

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“…docenteMELTZER, 2016;MELTZER, 2017), particularmente no ambiente laboratorial(SMITH;STEIN;HOLMES, 2020;KESTIN et al, 2020). Um ponto importante é que para que isso aconteça sugere-se um fluxo em via dupla: professor e estudante.…”