Can creative podcasting promote deep learning? The use of podcasting for learning content in an undergraduate science unit

This paper examines the effect of a podcasting task on the examination performance of several hundred first-year chemistry undergraduate students. Educational researchers have established that a deep approach to learning that promotes active understanding of meaning can lead to better student outcomes, higher grades and superior retention of knowledge over time. We attempted to promote such an approach by setting a task that involved student collaboration, contextualisation of content, and communication through new media, specifically creative podcasting. Examination results were used as a source of empirical evidence of changes in understanding and retention that occurred for students who completed this task. In comparing results across 2 years on similar questions related to the podcasting topics, we found a statistically significant improvement after introduction of the podcasting task on the questions related to one of the topics on which students had actively created their own podcasts (“acids & bases”), but not on the other (“oxidisation and reduction”). Improved learning outcomes in the form of better understanding and retention over time in at least one case suggest that under some circumstances creative podcasting may indeed help to promote a deep learning approach. Introduction Given the constraints of shrinking staff budgets and expanding student numbers, it is challenging to find ways to engage students in large undergraduate science classes, particularly the typically less motivated non-major students. This paper reports on the implementation of a student podcasting assignment that required 352 first-year undergraduate chemistry students to explore one of two set chemical concepts—either “acids & bases” or “oxidation & reduction.” Students were encouraged to contextualise and explain the concept in their own way in a collaboratively created podcast, which was then made available to peers to listen to and comment on. Our main aim in setting this task was to promote a deep approach to learning through an emphasis on collaboration, contextualisation, and communication through new media. In addition, we hoped to improve science communication skills and increase overall motivation. British Journal of Educational Technology (2014) doi:10.1111/bjet.12133 © 2014 British Educational Research Association This paper reports quantitative results and is a partner to previously reported qualitative results, in which students’ self-reported perceptions of the value of the podcasting task, their manner of tackling it and their degree of engagement and motivation suggested that a deepening of learning had taken place (Bartle, Longnecker & Pegrum, 2011). Given the relatively large number of participants involved, the current study explores the available quantitative data to determine the extent to which they reveal the same patterns as the qualitative data. Although it is difficult to obtain empirical evidence of deep learning, researchers have found that it can lead to improved student outcomes and grades. We therefore compared examination results across 2 years on similar questions relating to “acids & bases” and “oxidation & reduction” to establish whether there was quantifiable improvement in student understanding and retention in these areas. Any such improvement would be in line with our prediction that collaboration, contextualisation and digital communication of understanding can promote deep learning, and in line with the previously explored qualitative data that suggested that this had in fact occurred. In addition, we coded the content of students’ podcasts in an attempt to identify any direct relationship between contextualisation and improved exam performance. Deep learning Building on the pioneering work of Marton and Säljö (1976a, 1976b), educational researchers have established that there are two major kinds of learning approaches adopted by university students, one oriented towards reproducing information, and the other oriented towards understanding it (IAUL, n.d.). A surface approach to learning involves passive reproduction and focuses on Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic • Deep learning approaches foster higher quality learning outcomes and better retention of learning than surface learning approaches. • Students can be encouraged to adopt a deep learning approach through carefully structured assessment tasks. • Creative podcasting is superior to substitutional or supplementary podcasting in fostering collaborative and reflective learning. What this paper adds • Creative podcasting can foster deep learning in an appropriately structured task. • Creative podcasting may improve learning outcomes under some circumstances, as measured by exam marks, with no negative impact of creative podcasting being evident. • Contextualisation of learning may improve learning outcomes under some circumstances, as measured by assignment scores. • Listening to podcasts (supplementary podcasting) does not necessarily improve student learning outcomes. Implications for practice and/or policy • It is worth setting appropriately structured creative podcasting tasks to encourage students to adopt a deep learning approach. • Because creative podcasting can improve student outcomes under some circumstances by fostering creativity and contextualisation, it is worth employing in large undergraduate science units, especially in a time of shrinking budgets and staffing. 2 British Journal of Educational Technology © 2014 British Educational Research Association “the ‘signs’ of learning: the words used, isolated facts, items treated independently of each other” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 23, with ref. to Marton), whereas a deep approach to learning involves active understanding of meaning and focuses on “what is signified” (Ramsden, 2003). It has been found that deep approaches correlate with higher quality learning outcomes and higher grades (Biggs, 1990; IAUL, n.d.; Ramsden, 2003) as well as greater retention of learning over time (Ramsden, 2003). This may relate to a crucial difference between memorisation and understanding. Biggs and Tang (2007), summarising Entwistle and Entwistle’s (1997) work on student understanding, noted students’ view that: The experience [of understanding] was irreversible; what is now understood cannot be “de-understood”. Students thought a good practical test of understanding was being able to explain to someone else or to be able to adapt and to use what had been understood. (p. 74) Another important aspect of deep learning is the forging of connections between pre-existing and new knowledge, which in turn improves understanding, retention, and application of learning to real-world situations: Simply stated, deep learning involves the critical analysis of new ideas, linking them to already known concepts and principles, and leads to understanding and long-term retention of concepts so that they can be used for problem solving in unfamiliar contexts. Deep learning promotes understanding and application for life. (Houghton, 2004, p. 9) It is important to note that these approaches are not fixed characteristics of individuals but reflect choices made in particular contexts (Biggs & Tang, 2007; IAUL, n.d.; Ramsden, 2003). Although teachers cannot control all factors to guarantee students will take a deep approach, they can create conditions that maximise the likelihood of this occurring (Ramsden, 2003). Perhaps the major single influence on students’ choice to adopt surface or deep approaches is the nature of the assessment (Houghton, 2004; IML, n.d.). To encourage a deep approach, it is appropriate to adopt strategies such as the following (excerpted and abridged from a longer list in IML, n.d.), all of which played a role in the podcasting task we set for the chemistry students: • designing assessment that rewards students for understanding, making connections, etc.; • encouraging active engagement with learning tasks, eg, creative production; • bringing out the structure of the subject explicitly and encouraging students to make connections with (or challenge) what they already know; • giving students opportunities to discuss, debate and compare their understandings with each other and with the teaching staff; • giving students opportunities to gain qualitative feedback, especially but not only on their assessed work, rather than just giving marks or grades; • giving students opportunities to make reasonable choices about what and how they will learn; and • teaching in ways which encourage students’ intrinsic interest. Interestingly, recent research at the Open University has found a correlation between positive attitudes to using technology for studying and a deep approach to learning (Haigh, 2011), suggesting that it may be productive to foster student engagement with digital media through tasks such as the podcasting assignment set for our students. Podcasting Podcasting, strictly speaking, refers to a series of regularly produced audio files to which users can subscribe, but the term is increasingly used to refer to any digital audio files made available online for downloading to computers or portable media players. There are three main uses of podcasting in higher education, as described by McGarr (2009). Substitutional podcasting, sometimes also called coursecasting, consists of audio recordings of lectures or tutorials that are made available to Creative podcasting 3 © 2014 British Educational Research Association students so they can review the material as often as they wish, whereas supplementary podcasting involves the provision of additional material to help students deepen their understandings of particular topics. Creative podcasting, the least common form, involves students creating their own podcasts which, it is hoped, will help them develop their understanding of a topic (eg, Bartle, Longnecker & Pegrum, 2011; Lee, McLoughlin & Chan, 2008). A step on from students passively listening to substitutional or supplementary podcasts, this represents a move towards two-way communication between teachers and students (Harris & Park, 2008) or, indeed, students and students. Such creative podcasting may be a more effective learning technique than substitutional or supplementary podcasting (Atkinson, 2006; Carvalho, Aguiar & Maciel, 2009; Frydenberg, 2008; Lee et al, 2008; Shamburg, 2009). While still limited, some empirical evidence of improved learning outcomes is beginning to emerge (Lazzari, 2009). It has been suggested, specifically, that by turning students into “knowledge creators” (McGarr, 2009; cf. Rifkin, Longnecker, Leach, Davis & Orthia, 2010), creative podcasting helps develop a range of student competencies, including collaborative knowledge-building skills (Lee et al, 2008) and critical thinking skills (Frydenberg, 2008). Cane and Cashmore (2008) see key advantages as broadening of knowledge; enhancement of teamwork; greater technological skills; and motivation. They suggest, too, that there are benefits both for students who create podcasts and those who listen. For Schwartz and Digiovanni (2009), creative podcasting fits with a constructivist educational approach and, among other things, can improve “depth of understanding.” Lazzari (2009) found that creative podcasting encouraged “the development of reflective learning skills, stimulated students to go deep into the questions they had to face, and fostered positive collaborative behaviours” (p. 32) while leading to the development of skills and strategies associated with the deep learning approaches described earlier, including: the ability of the students to assess their own understanding of the topics of the course and to deepen their competence beyond the walls of the classroom, through a metacognitive practice that enhances their learning process (Flavell, 1976). Students’ achievements in terms of domain knowledge acquisition are the result of a classic constructivistic educational process, where knowledge is produced through an active process by the learners themselves, is strictly linked to a real context and is achieved by means of forms of collaboration and social negotiation (Jonassen, 1994). (ibid.) In summary, well-designed creative podcasting tasks may lead to the kind of active knowledge building and engaged collaboration that are associated with deep learning. Given the lack of empirical research to date, however, more work is needed on whether and how this may occur. Research methodology Following an earlier qualitative study of students’ reactions to and engagement with the podcasting task, the current study examined the effect of the podcasting task on examination results. In addition, students’ podcasts were coded according to their contextualisation levels to determine any possible link between contextualisation and improved examination performance.