When students effectively engage with textbooks or videos prior to class, more active and collaborative learning activities can be incorporated into subsequent face-to-face learning. Such pre-lecture assignments are particularly important in flipped classrooms, where a portion of the content is delivered primarily before face-to-face instruction. While a large amount of research has addressed the need to improve active learning during lectures, little work has examined the need to improve out-of-class preparation. Most often, out-of-class preparation consists of videos or assigned textbook readings, but question-embedded videos have also been shown to be effective. When using question-embedded videos, students must pause the video and solve problems as they watch the video, transforming their passive video watching into an active learning experience. Here, we present the results of a randomized control trial study that compares learning behaviors and outcomes between students using content-equivalent resources: organic chemistry textbook readings or question-embedded videos. We found that students who used question-embedded videos for their preparation had significantly higher learning gains and metacognitive monitoring proficiencies than students who used textbook readings. These results indicate that question-embedded videos enforce more productive feedback-driven problem-solving behaviors than textbook readings, which leads to substantial gains in performance and metacognitive monitoring, better preparing students for in-class instruction.

Video learning holds an important place in modern STEM classrooms, but more improvements to the learning experience are needed. In order to introduce active-learning components into assignments, questions are often deployed alongside videos. Unfortunately, many students tend to skip videos entirely and solely answer questions, bypassing valuable assigned content. Edpuzzle is an online video-modifying platform that allows instructors to take videos (both instructor-made as well as pre-existing available videos) and insert questions to create active-learning video experiences. Videos can be accessed by students on the Edpuzzle platform or directly from within most learning management systems. As students complete video assignments, instructors can access a variety of progress and performance metrics, use these metrics to identify weak points, and inform instruction. Edpuzzle also has unique student accountability features that allow instructors to choose to prevent students from skipping through videos or questions. Moreover, interactive questions can include chemical structures in the form of images or well-formatted equations or formulas, making Edpuzzle an attractive choice for optimizing video learning in and out of chemistry classrooms.

The transition from general chemistry to organic chemistry is challenging for many students. To succeed, students must remember their foundational chemistry skills and effectively transfer that knowledge into the context of organic chemistry. However, this transition is often hindered by many obstacles: (1) lack of prerequisite knowledge, (2) lack of understanding how foundational chemistry knowledge is applicable to organic chemistry, and (3) high levels of anxiety and low levels of self-efficacy toward organic chemistry. To address these challenges, a peer-led summer program that leverages question-embedded videos, worksheets, and synchronous remote webinars to enhance students’ transition into organic chemistry was developed and assessed. This six-week program, OrgoPrep, covers a wide set of introductory organic chemistry topics: resonance structures, hybridization and moleculer shape, molecular orbitals, acid–base chemistry, limiting reagents, and more. Substantial benefits, such as decreasing student anxiety and doubling student self-efficacy, were observed for students who completed OrgoPrep. These students also significantly outperformed their peers who did not participate in the program, despite having no statistical difference in prior chemistry abilitiesOrgoPrep students had a 3-fold decrease in failing grades and a 2-fold increase in A grades. Overall, OrgoPrep successfully serves as a bridge between general and organic chemistry, while facilitating knowledge transfer and enhancing student self-efficacy.

In clinical trials, HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) effectively lower plasma viremia and delay virus reemergence. The presence of less neutralization-susceptible strains prior to treatment decreases the efficacy of these antibody-based treatments, but neutralization sensitivity often cannot be predicted by sequence analysis alone. We found that phenotypically confirmed CXCR4-utilizing strains are less neutralization sensitive, especially to variable loop 3 (V3 loop)-directed bnAbs, than exclusively CCR5-utilizing strains in some, but not all, cases. Homology modeling suggested that the primary V3 loop bnAb epitope is equally accessible among CCR5- and CXCR4-using strains, although variants that exclusively use CXCR4 have V3 loop protrusions that interfere with CCR5 receptor interactions. Homology modeling also showed that among some, but not all, envelopes with decreased neutralization sensitivity, V1 loop orientation interfered with V3 loop-directed bnAb binding. Thus, there are likely different structural reasons for the coreceptor usage restriction and the different bnAb susceptibilities. Importantly, we show that individuals harboring envelopes with higher likelihood of using CXCR4 or greater predicted V1 loop interference have faster virus rebound and a lower maximum decrease in plasma viremia, respectively, after treatment with a V3 loop bnAb. Knowledge of receptor usage and homology models may be useful in developing future algorithms that predict treatment efficacy with V3 loop bnAbs. IMPORTANCE The efficacy of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) therapies may be compromised by the preexistence of less susceptible variants. Sequence-based methods are needed to predict pretreatment variants’ neutralization sensitivities. HIV-1 strains that exclusively use the CXCR4 receptor rather than the CCR5 receptor are less neutralization susceptible, especially to variable loop 3 (V3 loop) bnAbs in some, but not all, instances. While the inability to utilize the CCR5 receptor maps to a predicted protrusion in the envelope V3 loop, this viral determinant does not directly influence V3 loop bnAb sensitivity. Homology modeling predicts that contact between the envelope V1 loop and the antibody impacts V3 loop bnAb susceptibility in some cases. Among pretreatment envelopes, increased probability of using CXCR4 and greater predicted V1 interference are associated with faster virus rebound and a smaller decrease in the plasma virus level, respectively, after V3 loop bnAb treatment. Receptor usage information and homology models may be useful for predicting V3 loop bnAb therapy efficacy.

Question-embedded videos (QEVs) are learning tools that require students to solve problems and receive immediate targeted feedback while progressing through the video. As an effective learning modality, QEVs may be deployed for the preclass preparation phase of flipped classrooms. As flipped classrooms become more popular in STEM courses, effective out-of-class preparation is essential to maximize student learning. While previous studies have compared learning gains from textbooks and QEVs, this study compares two different types of videos: traditional (narrative) videos and question-embedded videos. Traditional assignments such as narrative videos primarily consist of content delivery, whereas question-embedded videos integrate active problem-solving and are an effective tool in increasing student engagement. This communication discusses separate studies comparing learning gains from narrative videos and question-embedded videos for problem-solving in two STEM disciplines: organic chemistry and introductory physics. Students learning from question-embedded videos significantly outperformed students learning from narrative videos. These results suggest that assigning passive narrative videos is not sufficient to yield maximum learning gains for students; rather, assigning out-of-class work with QEVs leads to substantially greater learning gains because of enforced active problem-solving paired with immediate feedback.