Online Students Do Not Learn By Video Alone, Finds Study

视频是大多数在线课程的固定设备. 因为视频往往会取代课堂上的讲座, it’s tempting to assume that they are at least as effective for learning.

然而, an in-person class meeting usually involves more than a lecture. Even the most boring teachers will stop and ask questions (“春天 ... 春天 ... 任何人?”), while more attentive instructors will mix things up with exercises and group activities—all of which are missing from your everyday lecture video.

最近, five researchers from Carnegie Mellon University decided to test out what difference extra activities make on learning outcomes inside a massive open online course, 或蕴藏. 他们的研究标题掩盖了他们的结论: “Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport: Doing Is Better Than Watching for Learning From a MOOC.”

They tested a 12-week introductory MOOC in psychology that featured 10- to 15-minute lecture videos as part of the instructional content along with weekly quizzes to measure progress. 在27个中,注册学生720人, 约三分之一(,075) also completed interactive activities from the Opening Learning Institute (OLI), such as a learn-by-doing exercise that required students to classify personality traits according to factors they just learned. 最后，所有的学生都参加了期末考试.

看看决赛, the average score of the students who used the OLI activities was nine points higher than the students who didn’t: 66 points vs. 57分. 更多的学生完成了互动课程, too; 939 of the OLI students took the final exam, while only 215 of the students in the non-OLI version did.

重要的是要记住，mooc是开放的, not-for-credit课程, which means they tend to have much higher attrition rates than a traditional for-credit online course. While only 4 percent of students overall finished the final exam, a full 10 percent of the students who used the activities completed the whole course.

研究人员由此得出结论, “the most influential impact (on learning) comes from doing activities ... The strength of this relationship is more than six times the impact of watching video or reading pages ... and more than three times the combined impact of watching and reading.”

At first glance, this looks bad for online video, but I think the situation is more complex. 在教室里, almost no one would recommend doing away with lectures entirely in favor of all group activities, 一直以来. Conceding that 15 weeks of nothing but 3-hour lectures might get boring, most classes—even highly interactive ones—include some lecture component to convey 信息 that goes beyond or elaborates on textbooks and other materials. That’s at least one reason why lectures have stuck around for millennia.

我之前已经说过很多次了, there is an array of creative approaches to make course videos more interesting, 说明, 而且比大多数课堂讲座都要好. Certainly you want students to watch a volatile chemical experiment being performed before doing it themselves. It’s even better if the video provides a closer and clearer view than watching it from across the room. 此外，学生还可以重新观看视频. 这是保留讲座视频的有力理由.

Of course, much of the learning in chemistry comes from actually performing the experiment. True, it’s probably prohibitive to ship online students a full chemistry set for at-home practice. 然而, the online course can offer simulations that let students test themselves, with the bonus that they won’t need lab coats and goggles (or fire extinguishers).

The takeaway is that activities that emphasize interactivity are a valuable addition to online courses. Consider them a value-add that only enhances the overall effectiveness of your videos, because better student learning is the most important outcome.

This article appears in the January/February 2016 issue of 流媒体杂志 “在线学生不能只通过视频学习。.”