The Role of Pre‐recorded Lecture to Replace Live‐Lecture on Student Performance

Abstract

There has been a sudden increase of reliance on pre‐recorded lectures (PRL) as a source of learning in higher education today. In this study, we compared student performance between live‐lecture (LL) and PRL.Sixty Introductory Physiology students at St. Louis College of Pharmacy gave informed consent to participate in this study. Two lectures were pre‐recorded to replace LL. We compared individual performance by separating exam questions into PRL and LL. LL had an average of 78.2% on relevant questions while PRL yielded an average of 74.5%. The pattern of test performance was similar for both groups and the proportion of each group passing was 85% for LL and 80% for PRL. Subsequently, these questions were separated into two subgroups: memory questions (MQ) and comprehension questions (CQ). The mean performance of the participating students for PRL‐MQ was 81% and LL‐MQ was 72% and was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the mean for PRL‐CQ was 55%, and LL‐CQ was 78%, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study suggests that students that attend LL perform better on higher‐order processing questions. Although PRL can be used to supplement lectures, our findings highlight the importance of teacher interaction to attain a deeper understanding of content.