Educational Lessons from a Pandemic: Lecture Recording and Learning Outcomes

Purpose: The use of lecture capture (LC) in higher education classrooms has increased, especially since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic; however, its effectiveness as a learning strategy is largely untested in graduate students. In undergraduate students, the use of LC has mixed findings related to academic performance. Some studies show no improvement in assessment or course grades while others show small gains. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of LC on academic performance in graduate doctor of physical therapy students (DPT). Methods: In module 1, students received two virtual synchronous lectures which were recorded and uploaded to the learning management system (LMS). A sample of convenience of second year DPT students enrolled in a cardiovascular and pulmonary course. Scores on quizzes and exams and viewing data were extracted from the LMS, and students completed a survey about their experience with LC. A Mann -Whitney U was performed to compare grades amongst students who watched recordings versus those who didn't. A linear regression was performed to determine if a duration of video viewing was associated with better performance. A similarity test was used to compare the quiz and exam scores for module 1 and module 2 for those students who watched one video or two videos. Results: Fifty-eight students met inclusion criteria (58/67). There were no significant differences between students who watched the recorded lectures and those who did not on either quiz (p=0.732; Table 2) or exam performance (p=0.773; Table 2). No duration of video viewing was associated with better performance on the quiz (p= 0.423; Table 3) or unit exam (p=0.754; Table 3). Lastly, the similarity scores for those who watched both videos were a 0.98 for the quizzes and 0.92 for the exams, again showing similar performance whether or not students viewed the videos. Conclusions and Recommendations: No performance advantage was found for viewing recordings despite students' positive perception of their utility. Professors should recommend the best -fit learning modality for each student, as LC may not be of benefit.