Reflections on a Year of Teaching with Video-Lectures

As I explained in an earlier post, I embarked on a new method of teaching this past year (new to me, that is). The course consisted of mostly 10th graders in Algebra II/Trig. Instead of lecturing to my students during class, I delivered the lecture content to them via video. Their homework most nights was to watch the lecture and then solve some basic-level problems. The contents of the videos were introductions to the concepts that served the purpose of familiarizing the students with the terminology and the mechanics, for the most part. I also included guided examples with instructions for the students to pause while they worked on them. (You can view the videos here.) Of course I needed some kind of “proof” that each student watched the videos, so I required them to take detailed notes.

By now, you might be wondering how I spent my class time with the students. Well, I began every day assessing what the students took from the video by working on a couple of problems with them as a group. We then moved into a more detailed discussion of the topic, analyzing it from many different angles, including proofs and validation. Thrown into the mix were tons of cool problems. I mostly served as a sort of learning coach; class time was very student-centered.

Looking back at it all, I can say that it was mostly a success. On my part, it was extremely time-consuming, however. I really enjoyed making the videos, though; I do love to explain math concepts. I also had to be very good about planning ahead of time so that there would be a video ready when it was needed. (I made them a few days before they were assigned).

On the last day of class, I decided to hand out a survey to the students so that I could get feedback from them about how the year went. According to their responses overall, they really liked the structure of the course. Here are some of their comments.

“I really liked them because I think it’s a much more efficient use of time to be learning at home and practicing/diving deeper into the concepts in class.”

“The videos allow students to go completely at their own pace, which is great.”

“They were a little long, but completely worth it, so don’t change that.”

“I liked how it prepared us for what to do in class, so class time was well-spent.”

“I had to do my math HW at home; I couldn’t bring it with me anywhere.”

"You can't ask a video questions." This was the biggest downside to it all. If I do this again (I might not be teaching the same course next year), I will attempt to remedy this situation by giving students extra credit for posting questions to the blog. I will also award extra credit to the student who correctly answers the question. Hopefully, it will generate discussions online that the students can learn from. What will the extra credit points be used toward? As of yet, I have no idea.

"If you don't understand something, you could replay that part as many times as necessary."

"It helped. It was much easier to learn through the videos than through the standard way of teaching."

"The videos were very clear and organized."

"They are not always 100% clear, but it was easy to clarify in class."

"Some of the examples were a little too easy."

There was one student for whom this was not effective: "I prefer the lectures in class because they are less time-consuming and I learn the material better. I can't ask a video questions."

At the end of the survey was a question that asked the students to rate the use of videos, with 1 being "Don't every use this as a means of delivering lectures again" and 10 being "This is the absolute best way to deliver course lectures." The average out of 26 students was 8.9, with a low score of 3 (the student who made the last comment above).

I welcome any comments/suggestions.