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Recording revision lectures in Physics

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Our Q-Review lecture capture system has really picked up momentum over the last few months, as more and more lecturers are braving the new phenomenon to record their lessons and make it available to their students. Watching a revision lecture on an iPhone using Q-Review

Students are embracing this progression of learning and especially like the fact that they can rewind and replay the lecture at their own pace. One student commented that a revision lecture capture was “the most useful and informative revision materials that [he] had ever recieved [sic]“. Many students remarked that they wish more teachers would use this facility.

While some lecturers record a live lecture or event, others use the technology to record their lesson(s) without an audience. This seems to be a good starting point for lecturers, and gets them used to the idea of being recorded and more familiar with the process.

Dr. Eram Rizvi, from the Physics department, did just that when he came to our E-Learning Studio and recorded a revision lesson for his students, using material that he had covered in a previous live class. He wanted to record the already taught lesson so that his students could review the content at their own pace.

We asked Dr. Rizvi to share his experience with us, and below is an excerpt of Dr. Rizvi’s interview, followed by some noteworthy feedback from his students.


ELU: Have you previously recorded a lecture?
Dr. Rizvi: No, this was the first time I had tried to record a lecture

ELU: How did you prepare to use the system? Did you need training?
Dr. Rizvi: Very little training was needed. I had prepared the lectures in any case, and just needed about 1hr of time to learn how to operate the [Q-Review] system

ELU: What did you record?
Dr. Rizvi: I recorded two revision lectures given using prepared powerpoint slides

ELU: How long did you spend recording?
Dr. Rizvi: The total lecture time was about 2 hrs, I needed an extra hour initially to learn the system from you, and I needed another 30mins in total to do the final edit for the first lecture, but the edit for the second lecture then took only 2 mins.

(Dr. Rizvi wanted more control over his recording and needed the time to learn about the system. For live recordings, staff just need to let the E-Learning Q-Review team know and they will schedule the system to automatically record.)

ELU: What did you think of the Q-Review system? Was it easy to use?
Dr. Rizvi: For recording the system is very easy to use. For editing the software can be improved. One difficulty I had was in using the time-slider to find a specific moment in the video to edit out. It would be better if I could use the slider in 1s intervals, or insert an exact time into a text-box.

ELU: How did you make your recordings available to your students?
Dr. Rizvi: I made available the audio only and video podcasts as downloads plus links to the Q-Review page for the enhanced video with slides. The powerpoint slides were also provided as a separate PDF file.

ELU: What did your students think of it? Have they been able to access it?
Dr. Rizvi: Most students used it and all thought it was a very good idea and would recommend its wider usage. The real benefit was in being able to replay sections of the podcast and to go at their own pace. Two students mentioned that the podcasts are good for reviewing concepts, but not good for going through detailed mathematics where 1-2-1 teaching is more appropriate.

ELU: Would you use Q-Review again?
Dr. Rizvi: Definitely

ELU: Would you recommend Q-Review to others?
Dr. Rizvi: I already have done. I have asked this be raised at the next Teaching Committee meeting in the Physics department.
ELU: How might you use Q-Review in the future? (E.g. would you record a live lecture?)
Dr. Rizvi: Yes, I would use it to record a live lecture to provide additional revision material before the exam period. I would not make the videos immediately available for fear of students not attending.


Student Feedback

Dr. Rizvi shared some feedback from his students regarding the usage of podcasts for revision lectures. He initially asked students if they wanted to have podcasts. He got 16 responses, of which 13 wanted the podcast as opposed to an actual revision lecture.

One student who had not wanted the podcasts in the first place later remarked:

” felt that the podcasts were better than I had expected them to be……mathematical stuff, I think is better explained face to face……Personally, I would still perfer to have normal revison sessions because when I dont understand something I like to ask then and there.”

Other students left the following comments:

“Overall I was very impressed and would enjoy the prospect of lecturer’s making this a standard in study material. A big thanks to you for the time spent creating these videos for us.”

“I have finished watching the video revision lectures and found them far more useful then the revision lectures. Although the revision lectures provide us a chance to ask the lecturer any problems we have, I believe that’s better off done on a one to one basis with the lecturer.”

“I thought they were some of the most useful and informative revision materials that I have ever recieved, I found the ability to listen to the lectures and take notes at my own pace enabled me to get alot more from the podcasts given than I would have done in a normal lecture with the same material . I would appreciate it if all lecturers followed suit!”

“I personally found the podcasts to be massively useful, mostly because they provided a very good means of refreshing my core knowledge of NPA [Nuclear, Physics and Astrophysics] without sifting through vast sets of notes”

” I sometimes forget things or am not able to catch everything you say if Im copying down notes at the same time. It is also much more convenient as sometimes planned revision lectures can cut into peoples personalized revision schedules, if they are revising different subjects. I do hope you continue these in future courses and maybe suggest the idea to other lecturers as I thought it would have been much more helpful in other subjects as well”

“The material was well presented with the slides along the bottom so you could quickly get a sense of the over all content that was being covered. I prefered having the video of the lecture since although this didn’t fulfill any particular function it was easier to concentrate on watching someone give a lecture than just listening to the audio.”

“I would definitely recomend other members of staff trying out something similar in future.”


For more information on Q-Review please visit our help and support pages

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