What do on campus students do with mathematics lecture screencasts at a dual-mode Australian university?

The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is one of Australia’s leading distance education providers, with about three quarters of its students enrolled in distance mode. While it can certainly be argued that screencasted lectures extend learning opportunities for students who cannot physically attend classes by providing a near live lecture experience, the question is raised: Would students who were given a choice and purposely enrolled on campus access these recordings, and if so, for what purpose? This paper uses a case study approach to investigate this question with a first year Operations Research course allowing on campus and distance enrolments. Data analysed and matched to follow individual students’ behaviours includes lecture attendance rolls, weekly screencast access on the course Moodle site, anonymous solicited student feedback provided by attendees in the last two lectures and a student survey at the end of semester. While a number of students used the recordings to catch up on missed classes, the majority of enrolled students stated that they attended classes because they had decided to enroll on campus rather than in distance mode, as they valued interaction with the lecturers and the ability to receive an immediate answer to questions.