Web-based lecture technologies and their effects on student performance

Pressure to use Web-Based Learning Technologies lecture recordings (WBLT) has been placed on lecturers (Chang 2007) with the assumption that WBLT is beneficial to student learning. Prior to 2007, most available research into the use of WBLT relied on student surveys. Little research had been conducted into the impact of using WBLT on student performance. What is the effect of WBLT availability on the exam results of telecommunication engineering students? Between semester 2, 2007 and semester 1, 2009 audio of lectures was recorded and made available throughout alternate semesters to 842 on-campus students in a number of undergraduate and postgraduate units. All other aspects of the curriculum remained constant. Student exam results were collated and statistically analysed. Student exam performance for a parallel control unit was also collated and analysed in order to identify any variance in the different cohorts of students. Our results showed that whenever WBLT was available there were no positive effects on the overall exam performance. For some groups of students, negative effects were observable. These results are similar to the findings of subsequent research by others (Williams, et al. 2012; McNulty, 2011; Figlio, 2010). Our results suggest that just simply making WBLT available, alone with no other strategies, is not guaranteed to have a positive effect on student outcomes. In some cases, the availability of WBLT resulted in worse student outcomes. More research on the ways WBLT could be more effectively incorporated in teaching strategies is suggested.