Do Supplemental Online Recorded Lectures Help Students Learn Microeconomics?

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of information technology in higher education, it has become important to study how students use new technologies and how effective these methods are. This study sheds light on the relationship between the use of online recorded lectures and exam performance of students in the case of microeconomics. The study uses a rich panel data set covering Taiwanese students. Our results show that those who skip more classes and males are more likely to use online recorded lectures. As may be expected, most students access online recorded lectures just before exams, rather than immediately after lectures. Our fixed effects model shows a significant and positive relationship between students’ use of online recorded lectures and their grades. On average, performance improvement attributable to the use of online supplements is close to 4 percentage points. In addition, watching online recorded lectures just before an exam increases students’ performance by 3 to 5 percentage points.