This paper explores barriers to student in-class attention during lecture. It also tests how these barriers can be reduced for better student learning outcomes. Analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques, data were randomly collected from 129 university undergraduate students through a questionnaire consisting of 20 open- and…

Background: Practice tests have been shown to be an effective means to foster long-term retention in higher education, at least compared to restudying (i.e., the testing effect). Objective: The present study replicated and extended prior research by examining whether and to what extent the positive effects of testing on long-term retention in a…

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, students have more choice of how to attend courses than ever before; for a large number of courses at a technical university, they are still able to watch the lectures live online or in recorded format later. We found that interactivity may bring back students into the classroom almost as effectively as…

While previous studies have shown that L2 listeners tend to focus more on videos with additional information, like presentation slides, the amount of eye gaze did not necessarily translate to higher listening test scores . Unlike previous research focusing on the benefits of additional visual cues, this study explores how emotions impact L2…

A blended teaching mode is necessary to improve the study efficiency of nursing students. This study aimed to explore the effects of the use of case-based learning (CBL), involving microlectures and flipped classroom teaching methods (flipped CBL mode), via online tools on the teaching of physiology to nursing undergraduates. A total of 207…

An animal reproduction course is a common degree program requirement of animal science majors though variation exists as to how learning outcomes are achieved. Universities either offer laboratory experiences as a part of their lecture content or as a separate course, which may or may not be required depending on the university, and others offer…

Inspired by Deslauriers et al. (2019), this study investigates the link between perceived and actual learning outcomes in college psychology courses. The authors evaluated active vs. passive learning methods' effectiveness in developmental and introductory psychology classes over two semesters. Participants experienced either group discussions and…

COVID-19 greatly increased the online delivery of higher education. But one limitation of online learning is that students often struggle to stay engaged while watching online lectures. We examined whether including an instructor's face in lecture videos (instructor visibility) enhances student engagement or learning. In two preregistered…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lecturers wore masks which covered facial cues. In two studies, we examined students' ability to comprehend both factually and inferentially presented information when the speaker's facial cues were or were not available and when delivered with or without expressive prosody. While comprehension was not affected by the…

Research shows that active-learning methods (e.g. discussion) are often superior to passive methods (e.g. lecture) with respect to learning outcomes. However, students sometimes report preferring and learning more in lecture-style classes compared to those in which they play an active role. These and related findings suggest students may lack…

Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly gaining attention across the open-source and commercial fields, bolstered by their constantly growing capabilities. While such models have a vast array of applications, their integration into higher education--as supportive tools for lecturers--has been largely unexplored. Exploring this area entails…

The present study compared learning gains at both form recall and meaning recall levels across three learning conditions: viewing without note-taking, viewing with conventional note-taking, and viewing with guided note-taking. A total of 134 Chinese learners of English were assigned to three experimental groups and a no-treatment control group.…

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a unique opportunity to examine undergraduate students' notetaking practices for online courses. In this large survey study (n = 584), we examined how students' notetaking changed from before to during emergency online instruction and how students used their notes during this time. Our findings suggest that students…

Increasing the playback speed of video lectures is popular amongst students as a time saving strategy, but does this negatively impact test performance? Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effect of increasing video lecture playback speed on content test performance. A meta-regression with robust variance estimation was used to…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted community colleges and created a new context in which they were forced to operate. Faculty, especially those who normally taught in-person, were required to transition quickly to fully online classrooms. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted at the start of the pandemic with 17 students pursuing degree…