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  6.  — Teaching Tip: Chunk lecture videos to improve engagement

Teaching Tip: Chunk lecture videos to improve engagement

Dr Anthony Brand shares his thoughts on how to organise your lecture recordings into bite-sized segments.

Are your students overwhelmed by lengthy video lectures?

Long, unstructured videos can lead to information overload for students and create unnecessary work for educators when updates are needed.

Try this!

Break up lengthy lecture videos into smaller, focused segments that cover specific topics. This approach makes information more digestible for students, increases engagement, and simplifies the process of updating your materials.

Addresses these teaching challenges:

  • Information overload in video lectures
  • Difficulty updating video content for you
  • Making video lectures more engaging

Image: Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

Implementation

Option 1: Plan and record in chunks

  1. Identify key topics or questions you want students to discuss during lectures.
  2. Record short video segments (5-10 min) for each topic.
  3. Organise these segments into a clear structure, such as a playlist.

Option 2: Record and then segment

  1. Record a full lecture video covering all the material for that class.
  2. Identify natural breaks or segments within the lecture.
  3. Cut the video into smaller, bite-sized segments based on these breaks.

Pro tips

  • Use clear and descriptive titles for each video segment.
  • Provide a brief summary or overview of each segment.
  • Consider using interactive elements, such as quizzes or discussions, to break up the video content.

Benefits

  • Makes information more digestible for students
  • Easier to update video content if needed
  • Increases student engagement and participation

Teacher’s voice

“If anything changed, I could just take out the five minutes in the two-hour lecture that I took about the world’s tallest building. Uh, and just rerecord another five minutes and then put that in reduced prep time.” – Anthony

Try this variation

Use interactive tools to link related video segments together, creating a branching or choose-your-own-adventure style learning path. This can help students navigate complex topics in a more engaging and personalised way.

Have a teaching tip to share? Add it to our jar today. Email: teachwell@auckland.ac.nz

Faculty: Engineering and Design

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Dr Anthony Brand

Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Engineering and Design

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Level of effort required

Alignment with Signature Pedagogical Practices

Published

26 February 2025
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