Creating a Confident and Curious Cohort: The Effect of Video-Led Instructions on Teaching First-Year Chemical Engineering Laboratories

Abstract

On-demand video has become a seamless part of the fabric of information consumption. Initially inspired by the popularity of video guides for practical skills such as cooking and DIY, instructional videos were developed for equipment used in the first-year chemical engineering undergraduate teaching laboratory at Imperial College London. During 2016/17, the effect of the videos on the students' learning was measured using video viewership metrics, a survey and focus groups with students and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and rounded off through interviews with the module teaching team. Student reactions were overall positive, with >90% of students stating they found the videos useful. The outcome of our study indicated that because of access to the videos before, during and after lab sessions, students were more confident in their own ability, spent more time engaging with theory, applied practical lab skills in a more targeted way and produced better outputs. Rather than just a video version of the experiment handout, the video influenced the behaviour of both learners and teachers, freeing up time to engage in deeper exploration of topics. The results of the study suggest that the use of video-led instruction in undergraduate laboratory teaching improves student experience, saves GTA time, and decidedly shifts the teaching focus from demonstration to exploration.

How to Design Experiential Learning Resources for Independent Learning

“…On a finer grain level, the various design principles in conjunction with changes to the module structure have resulted in a significantly different and arguably enhanced student experience. Many of the design decisions such as the narrative of the handouts and the provision of instructional videos covering the operational aspects of the project have helped to free up the instructors’ time as less time is needed to cover operational tasks . Correspondingly, instructor–student interactions tended to focus more on higher level issues such as experimental design, data analysis, and the sharing of personal experience, which is reflected in the higher feedback quality scores reported by students, as shown in Figures and .…”

“…Many of the design decisions such as the narrative of the handouts and the provision of instructional videos covering the operational aspects of the project have helped to free up the instructors' time as less time is needed to cover operational tasks. 51 Correspondingly, instructor−student interactions tended to focus more on higher level issues such as experimental design, data analysis, and the sharing of personal experience, which is reflected in the higher feedback quality scores reported by students, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. It should be noted that the module structure also has a significant role in transforming this relationship, and both factors should be considered when evaluating the impact on instructor− student interactions.…”

Influence of a New Media Data Interaction System on the Course Teaching Effect

“…Videos have a significant impact on the teaching process of college students [17], which is a direct embodiment of English applications. The video production of the courseware of the new media data interaction system is mainly based on the teaching materials of the college English course.…”

Design and Evaluation of the BeArS@home and Slugs@home Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-Style Online Laboratory Experiments

“…Navigating through the various choose-your-own-adventure scenarios prior to completing the physical experiment could give students the opportunity to learn from common mistakes in the low-stakes environment, leading to a less stressful in-person experience. Previous research indicates that supplementing in-person laboratory work with preparatory simulations or instructional videos can lead to increased confidence and conceptual understanding − as well as decrease the amount of time spent and the number of experimental errors made while completing the corresponding physical experiment . For these reasons, we have continued to make these experiment sites available to students.…”