Dutton Digest, October 2022

Engaging Students with Interactive Videos

Many instructors supplement their course content by pointing students to engaging TED Talks, asking guest speakers to record short lectures, or providing links to resources through PBS, National Geographic, YouTube, or other online video sources.

Choosing to include video content as part of your class material can provide a number of benefits to the overall student learning experience. These include opportunities to build background knowledge for students, enrich a reading or article with visual context, or provide an alternative point of view, all of which can encourage students to become more engaged in the topic at hand. Another benefit is that students can review videos if they choose, and if the video is properly captioned, use the transcript as an additional resource.

To take your videos a step further, consider adding interactivity. For an activity that is difficult or impossible to implement in a classroom situation, provide a video where the student not only observes the activity but also records data from what they are seeing. Another way to add interactivity to a video is to use Kaltura video software to insert pauses and questions directly into a video to encourage the students to think more deeply about what they are seeing.

The following articles from the Dutton Institute’s Teaching and Learning Showcase provide more information about the use of interactive videos and some examples that are already being used in our courses.

Using Interactive Videos to Encourage Active Learning

• Adding Relevance with Guest Speakers
• Using Interactive Video for a Data Collection Activity
• Using Kaltura to Build Interactivity into Videos

Designing Effective Quizzes, Tests, and Exams

A well-written exam should help assess student learning, show what students do and do not understand, and provide an indication of how effective our teaching is. Writing an exam can be a challenging and time-consuming process, but beginning with some strategies and advanced planning can make the task less daunting. Designing Effective Quizzes, Tests, and Exams by Barbara Gross Davis, UC Berkeley, outlines some helpful guidelines, strategies, and alternative testing modes that you might consider.