Collaborative Research: Screencasts for Enhancing Chemical Engineering Education

这个TUES 2型项目的目标是通过完成一个简短的、经过验证的视频库来改变本科化学工程教育。每个视频不超过10分钟，并包含旁白。屏幕视频提供了一种个性化的学习方法，赋予学生权力，让他们控制信息传递的速度和时间。先前的研究表明，屏幕视频有助于减少认知负荷，增加学生的信心，并让学生控制自己的学习。该项目的目标是：1)为化学工程课程准备视频，并将其在线提供；2)聘请专家验证视频的质量和准确性；3)评估视频的有效性，评估教师和学生的使用情况，并利用评估结果来改进视频；4)通过支持教师采用视频来扩大使用范围，并增加学生使用的便利性。科罗拉多大学博尔德分校（University of Colorado at Boulder）的这个项目团队正在创建800多个新的视频片段，以增加现有的12门本科工程课程的750多个视频片段库。主题以化学工程为重点，但也包括跨工程学科的主题和课程。这些短视频是根据概念图和教科书目录组织的。与拉斐特学院合作，对视频进行评估，以告知改进，并就视频对学生学习和视频使用和采用的影响提供有价值的信息。这个项目更广泛的影响在于有可能接触到大量的工程专业学生和教师。现有的视频可以在网上获得，2012年播放或下载的次数超过125万次。此外，430多名教师已经注册了www.LearnChemE.com网站。对于那些受益于封闭字幕选项的学习者来说，这些视频也是一种资源，比如听力受损的学生或英语作为第二语言的学生。此外，阅读困难的学生可以使用视频来补充教科书，因为视频中的信息是口头呈现的，因此对他们来说更容易理解。

The goal of this TUES Type 2 project is to transform undergraduate chemical engineering education by completing a library of short, validated screencast videos. Each screencast is less than 10 minutes and includes narration. Screencasts provide a personalized method of learning that empowers students, giving them control over the rate and timing of information delivery. Previous research shows that screencasts help minimize cognitive overload, increase student confidence, and allow students to take control of their learning. The project objectives are to: 1) prepare screencasts for chemical engineering courses and make them available online, 2) engage experts in validating screencasts for quality and accuracy, 3) assess screencast effectiveness, evaluate faculty and student usage, and employ assessment findings to improve screencasts, and 4) expand usage by supporting faculty adoption of screencasts and increase ease of student use. This project team at the University of Colorado at Boulder is creating more than 800 new screencasts to add to an existing library of more than 750 screencasts for twelve undergraduate engineering courses. Topics have a chemical engineering emphasis, but topics and courses that reach across engineering disciplines are included. The short screencasts are organized according to concept maps and textbook tables of contents. In collaboration with Lafayette College, evaluation of the screencasts is conducted to inform improvements and provide valuable information on the impact of screencasts on student learning and screencast usage and adoption. The broader impacts of this project lie in the potential to reach a large number of engineering students and faculty. The existing screencasts, which are available online, have been played or downloaded more than 1.25 million times in 2012. Additionally, more than 430 faculty have registered for the www.LearnChemE.com website. The screencasts also are a resource for learners that benefit from the closed captioning options, such as hearing-impaired or English as a Second Language students. Moreover, dyslexic students can use screencasts to supplement textbooks since the information in the screencasts is presented verbally and thus can be easier for them to understand.