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Understanding Student Use of Resources in "Rich-Media" Courses
1. Understanding Student Use of Resources in
“Rich-Media” Courses
Dr Thomas Rodgers
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical
Science
The University of Manchester
2. Courses
• Advanced Engineering Separations (AES)
• 3rd year lecture course - ~320 students
• 1st Year Laboratory (Labs)
• 1st year practical course - ~250 students
Video Type
Number of
videos
Average length
/ min
Average number of
views per video
per student
Key Concept (AES/CRE) 9 5.5 1.4
Lecture (AES) 10 47.3 1.0
Tutorial (AES) 7 11.4 1.2
Chapter (CRE) 9 19.0 2.0
Revision (AES) 1 102.4 1.0
Activity (Labs) 8 5.0 2.2
• Catalytic Reaction Engineering (CRE)
• 3rd year lecture course - ~290 students
3. Views of each video reveal key times for student use
28/09/15 28/10/15 28/11/15 28/12/15 28/01/16
0
10
20
30
40
0
10
20
30
40
NumberofViews
Lectures
Tutorials
Coursework 1 Coursework 2 Exam
4. Video use is very repeatable
• The repeatability of video use means that material can be targeted at key times in the
course
CW1
CW2 CW3
Exam
CW4
6. Overall retention varies with video time and quality
• Bench mark for video
quality, if above the
line then can be
thought of as more
engaging.
• Poor start to the
video can prevent
watching e.g. the
~16% viewed video
starts with a welcome
to the course which
just put people off.
7. Exam marks increase with more video watches
• Some trend to show that the
more watches of the videos
the better the students do in
the exam.
8. Bonus impact from making videos public
• Over 26 thousand views from the
UK over the last 3 years (most from
the AES course).
• Over 27 thousand views from the
rest of the world in the last year
(with proportion in the pie chart –
Europe excludes UK views).
• https://www.youtube.com/c/Advanc
edEngineeringSeparations
9. Lab Activity
Christmas Easter
Week
• For laboratory
preparation we provide
short videos (~5 min) to
explain the key theory
and method of the
experiment.
• A video linked to a
focused activity
increases the student
number of uses and the
amount they watch,
10. Pre-lab videos are useful to the students
How prepared do you feel for this
experiment?
Did not watch Watched video
Mark Distribution
11. Guideline Reason
(1) Split the video into clear sections: e.g.
learning objectives, background theory,
useful equations, relevance etc.
Makes the video easy to follow and students can quickly find necessary
sections.
Survey feedback shows videos are not watched as much after laboratory
sessions therefore the video must include content that can be utilised
outside of labs.
(2) Include a sufficient amount of
background theory early on in the video:
Assume that most students are watching
the video with no prior knowledge on the
topic.
Sets the scene for the rest of the video, students think of the first minute
as the most important.
Those experiments that are carried out early on in the year are usually
completely unfamiliar to students.
“It is important for students to have some idea of the theory before
entering the laboratory. Completing a practical without understanding the
fundamental concepts is meaningless” – Lab-demonstrator.
(3) Show images of the apparatus when
describing the experimental procedure.
“Experimental instructions without images of the apparatus is like trying
to learn a computer game without seeing the game controller” – Student.
(4) Keep the video concise and straight to
the point: Do not pack the video with too
much content, and only include
necessary information. Keep the
terminology clear, and explain key
concepts.
“Current videos contain too much information in a small amount of time”
– Student.
“If a lot of unfamiliar words are used it makes the video difficult to
follow and not user-friendly” – Student.
Too much content results in students having to re-wind and re-watch.
Videos should be concise and clear.
(5) Ensure the video narrator speaks clearly
but not too quickly – normal
conversation pace.
“As an international student, I find the current videos easy to follow as
the narrator speaks very clearly”- Student
Information should be delivered at an appropriate pace.
(6) Include a “Feedback from
Demonstrator” or “Things to Remember”
section. This section makes the students
aware of the common, time-consuming
“It is beneficial for students to make mistakes, but certain mistakes can
be very time consuming in an already time-limited session” – Lab-
demonstrator.
12. Conclusions
• Students use the rich-media resources
• Access them for a variety of purposes
• Key-concept videos should be kept short
• Tutorial videos will always attract those who just want to check their
answer
• Focused activity increases the video use
T.L. Rodgers, S. Mabley, A.A. Garforth; 2017; “Understanding student use of
resources in “rich-media” courses”; Education for Chemical Engineers, 20:
