Examining of the Effectiveness of High-Quality Lecture Videos in an Asynchronous Online Criminal Justice Course

Courses in higher education have been increasingly offered online over the previous decades. This shift has prompted research aimed at determining best practices. While research has identified practical advantages that asynchronous classes have, less has focused on the quality and content contained within pre-recorded lecture videos. The purpose of the current study is to present the development of and assess the impact that high-quality lecture videos have on student perceptions and academic outcomes using a two-study mixed-methods approach. Study one involved administering an open-ended survey to students that contained items assessing perceptions of the lecture videos. Study two involved comparing scores on a survey assessing attitudes toward the lecture videos and academic outcomes between two identical class sections, with one receiving the high-quality lecture videos, and the other receiving basic PowerPoint lecture videos. Results provide some support for the use of high-quality lecture videos and implications for future research.