By Lyndsey Gilpin
Imagine sitting in a lecture hall, vigorously copying down the notes on the projector screen and listening to the words of the professor, while attempting to actually comprehend the topic of discussion.
You stop for thirty seconds, just to send a text on your phone or listen to a side conversation, and miss a step in the calculus equation that is being explained. After that, every step makes no sense and none of your neighbors remember what to do. Raising your hand to ask about it is out of the question. You’re lost in the material and aren’t sure how to get back on track before the homework is due.
Many college students have encountered this dilemma. There are some days when focusing in class is difficult and others when making it to class may be physically impossible.
Because of these problems, faculty at the university have brought in Tegrity, a type of software that allows professors to record any part of their lecture and post it on Blackboard for students to listen to.
The pilot program of Tegrity at U of L was last spring, when it was tested on undergraduate, graduate, and medical school students.
Dr. Edna Ross, Professor of Psychology, was in charge of the program. Although she was skeptical about the software early on, she ultimately decided to use it in her lectures.
She was extremely surprised to discover the positve effect that it had on her students.
“After we conducted a survey, we found that about 70 percent of students believed Tegrity to contribute to their learning course material,” said Ross, “and only about 20 percent indicated that they would come to class less often because the recordings were available online.”
The majority of the students also stated that Tegrity actually improved their course grade and increased their motivation to study.
“Professors can use Tegrity anyway they want,” said Ross. “In my classes, I record supplemental instruction so that students may get some extra emphasis on the more complex ideas. It helps fill in the gaps in the material.”
Tegrity can record individual pod casts of entire lectures or short sections of instruction, both with visual aides. It allows professors to record what they say as they write on an overhead or point their mouse to a slide in a power point presentation.
It is searchable as well; students can type in any word they remember being mentioned during the class and the computer will automatically skip to that portion of the lecture. Any part can be watched repetitively until the viewer understands the material.
Dr. Priscilla Hancock, VP of the Information Technology center at U of L, believes the software will prove to be an invaluable tool to benefit students and professors alike.
“It is a wonderful tool that I know will catch on quickly at this university and at others,” said Hancock. “Some students believe it to be like individual tutoring because they can listen until they get the point.”
This semester, faculty members are being trained on how to use the software and it is available only to a limited number of professors.
It will be installed and used in classrooms by the spring semester.
“I keep telling everyone that if it gets students to become more productive and learn in a more effective way, Tegrity is very much worth the money, the time, and the effort we put into it,” said Hancock.
