To support the steady increase in student numbers in Physics 1A over the years I introduced another lecture stream to help students in their learning by developing engaging online lecture content. Having researched the effectiveness of online teaching by using concept inventory tests to measure learning gains of students in another of my online courses I found they compared favourably to a similar face-to-face course at UNSW. In 2017 I introduced a series of web stream lectures for students doing Physics 1A. These web stream lectures were designed to keep students engaged, with short videos followed by a question to ensure their understanding. Students could choose to either enrol in face-to-face lectures or the web stream. Regardless of their choice, all students had access to the web stream materials and they were often used by students who could not attend a live lecture or for revision purposes. I developed half of the material for the web stream with the other half made by Prof. Joe Wolfe who lectures into the Physics 1A course. The results confirmed our approach. Students who completed at least 80% of the web stream lectures performed 9% better on the final exam than the average student. They also had higher learning gains as measured through concept inventory tests (one on mechanics [1] and one on thermal physics [2]). Theses web stream lectures are proving to be popular – while only 200 students enrolled in the web stream each lecture was attempted by over 500 students. These web stream lectures also help students with different needs, for example students who find a large lecture theatre overwhelming. The web stream lectures received very positive comments from students such as:
“I just wanted to send you a very big thank you for all the effort you have put into making this course as fun and engaging as it was - while you never actually taught me, I followed every webstream lecture of yours for thermal and waves, and can I just say I have never learnt physics more clearly and thoroughly!
It answered all my questions and more, and the system if we get something wrong, you give us the chapter to revise as a first hint and then a COMPLETE video solution for each question is just amazing! Having done a lot of mechanics throughout school, it was this second half of physics I was a little concerned about but your webstream content as well as lab videos just made it so much easier!” (Unsolicited email from student 2018).
[1] Hestenes, D, Wells, M, Swackhamer, G (1992). Force concept inventory. The physics teacher, 30(3), 141
[2] Wattanakasiwich, P., Taleab, P., Sharma, M. D., & Johnston, I. D. (2013). Construction and implementation of a conceptual survey in thermodynamics. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education (formerly CAL-laborate International), 21(1).