Video‐taped lectures for honours students on international Industry Based Learning

Abstract

For a course built around a year of Industry Based Learning (IBL), devising an honours stream within the same four‐year time span required part‐time study during IBL. In the case of students undertaking IBL internationally, this neccessitated the provision of units of study for distance learning. However, in some units appropriate learning resources were not in existence. The solution to this problem was to video‐tape a chemistry lecture unit live.

This led to a second potential problem. Was the video‐taped lecture unit a suitable learning resource? Hence the unit was trialled on local students. After live lectures or independent video‐tape learning, students' results on an identical examination were internally standardised to their overall performance. These standardised results showed clear‐cut improvements when video‐taped lectures were utilised. Thus, for a (special) group of students studying chemistry at a distance, the generalised results of the trial suggest the telelecture mode of presentation to be a highly desirable alternative.

Biochemistry majors responded much more positively to the stimulus of the novel method of presentation (in their second, chemistry major) than the double major chemistry students. There is a clear general implication here for teachers of students in non‐preferred or service areas, whether at a distance or not.