On Thursday, the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) held a workshop in which Dr. Ed Greco of the School of Physics described his use of videos as learning tools. Here, Dr. Greco tells us about why he started using videos and how he has used them.
Why did you decide to start using videos?
In the Fall of 2010 I started to incorporate videos into my course materials for PHYS 2211 and 2212. The idea was to transition some traditional lecture activities to videos that students could watch from home. At first these videos were introductions but soon included solutions to challenging homework problems. By moving part of my lecture online I was able to free up a modest amount of class time for more active learning activities. In the process I discovered I was also creating a new study aid for my students who could watch and rewatch my solutions at their leisure.
When did you start asking students to produce videos?
Soon after starting my own videos I partnered with OMED's Jarrad Reddick on incorporating student made videos into my physics courses. This resulted in an article and a few sample videos from students you can find herehttp://www.c21u.gatech.edu/hg/item/132981 They main idea was to ask student to present a solution to a challenging, context rich physics problem in under five minutes. After the submission deadline I randomly assigned eight videos for each student to rank. A videos average ranking determined their score on the assignment.
This semester I have just started introducing the idea of student made videos to my class. I recently asked them to use what they have learned so far in physics to test the plausibility of the superman's home world of Krypton.