Lecture Capture Drives Academic Gains at Saint Mary's U

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/19/08

A new study by Saint Mary's University of Minnesota concluded that students who used the on-campus lecture capture archives, recorded by Tegrity, tended to have a higher cumulative GPA than those who didn't.

Tegrity Campus 2.0 is a Web service that captures classroom lectures and digital materials for playback. Saint Mary's initially deployed Tegrity in a proof of concept study with a small number of faculty teaching undergraduate courses. Based on the success of the initial study, the university expanded campus-wide in the spring of 2006. Within five semesters, more than half the faculty had adopted Tegrity's class capture service across several departments and more than 100 course sections, including courses offered to non-traditional and adult learners. During 2007 Saint Mary's faculty created 5,023 recordings.

In spring 2008, faculty and administration conducted a survey of students to determine the impact of Tegrity on student learning. Of the 862 student respondents, which included both users and non-users, 65 percent reported that Tegrity increased their focus on the most important learning objectives for the course. Six out of 10 respondents reported that Tegrity increased their preparation for exams, overall performance on tests, and increased satisfaction with courses and course material.

Cumulative grade point average (GPA) was proven to be significantly higher for Tegrity users than for non-users.

"When comparing cumulative GPAs between students who use Tegrity versus those who don't, the results are clear. Tegrity offers a significant advantage," said Chad Kjorlien, director of instructional technology.

During class, Saint Mary's students can use a Tegrity Pen or Tablet PC to digitally capture their handwritten notes. Outside of class, students can then use Tegrity Notes software to synchronize the class recording to their notes. The service includes a "search anything" technology, enabling users to recall key class moments at any point during a captured lecture.

Saint Mary's has about 6,000 students in the greater Minnesota and Wisconsin areas.

Other Tegrity users include the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Santa Clara University in California, and the University of New Haven in Connecticut.