Effectiveness of Student-Generated Video as a Teaching Tool for an Instrumental Technique in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Multimedia instruction has been shown to serve as an effective learning aid for chemistry students. In this study, the viability of student-generated video instruction for organic chemistry laboratory techniques and procedure was examined and its effectiveness compared to instruction provided by a teaching assistant (TA) was evaluated. After providing selected lab sections with either video or TA lab instruction, student participants were given an assessment to evaluate the effectiveness of each presentation. Videos were found to prepare students for lab more effectively, with an average of 17% more students answering questions correctly after watching the video than after receiving TA instruction. Additionally, according to direct observations, students were 37% less likely to require TA assistance during the lab when presented with video instruction. By providing students with short and concise student-generated video instructions, students in the observed courses were able to be more independent throughout the lab and perform better than students who had received TA instruction alone.