Campus Perceptions of Lecture Capture

Project Summary & Background

As a part of the move to emergency remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, OIT increased the number of classrooms equipped with lecture capture technology. This improved access presented an opportunity to evaluate the use and value of the academic tool and to explore expanding its use in classrooms further. Our project aimed to gather student and faculty sentiment regarding automated lecture capture technology in CU Boulder courses. 

To better understand this problem, our research compared available literature and data about AAU institution practices with local campus community perceptions and attitudes of lecture capture as an academic tool. During preliminary research to support this project, academic literature focused on the use and outcomes of lecture capture technology in the classroom was collected and evaluated. Due to the recent global pandemic and the effects on education shifting to either a fully-virtual or hybrid setting, recency was a major factor in collecting relevant academic sources in order to reflect the possibility of a major shift in faculty and student sentiment regarding academic technology. However, as higher education is still actively adapting to the existing global pandemic, there is not a plentiful amount of relevant sources published in the last two years.

Approach 

OIT staff began the project with a review of available academic literature and by conducting a peer review of other AAU institutions. After receiving approval by CU Boulder’s Institutional Review Board, the project team designed surveys for both the student and faculty populations to gauge perceptions and sentiments around the use of lecture capture technology. Surveys were distributed to sample populations pulled from students and instructors that participated in a course that was held in a Classroom Capture-equipped space during the fall 2022 and spring 2023 academic semesters. Summarized findings from the collected surveys can be found below.

Future project steps may include focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews with students and faculty in order to collect deeper insights. 

Project Findings

Students overwhelmingly approve of lecture capture technology in the classroom

• 86% of respondents support increased access to LC content.
• Students report their most common use case is to view content from lectures that were missed, followed by reviewing content from attended lectures.

Faculty have reservations about the academic technology, but lean towards supporting its use:

• Possible impact on student attendance is still the largest reported concern.
• 53% of respondents reported being pro-“Opt-Out” with 33% reporting being anti-”Opt-Out”

Quotes from student surveys:

• “Usually when I am studying for an exam and need to review a concept, I'll go back to the lectures to listen to the professor explain the concept again.”
• “Lecture recordings allow me to fully take in a lecture without worrying that I will miss something important”
• “I watch lecture videos that cover topics I am not confident in when it comes to studying to build a better understanding.”

Quotes from instructor surveys:

• “Students need to be helped to understand that lecture recordings are not a substitute for attending classes, but a helpful supplementary tool.”
• “I have heard from a lot of students who are non-native English speakers, hard-of-hearing, or have ADHD that being able to access the lecture videos has really helped them.”
• “I have no concerns about the technology itself. My main concerns about student involvement. Too often students treat recorded lectures as a substitute for attending and participating in class.”

Project Participants