Using video captions in the classroom is a technique usually reserved only for students with disabilities, but new research suggests it could help everyone learn.
A researcher compared comprehension scores of kids when they simply watched the videos with their scores after using captions, a San Francisco State University news release reported.
"Not only were students talking about how much having the captions helped them as they took notes, their test scores went up,"Robert Keith Collins, an assistant professor of American Indian studies, said. "During the baseline year, there were a lot of Cs. In the second years, they went from Cs, Ds and Fs to As, Bs and Cs. It was really significant improvement."
The researcher noticed that along with grad improvements, class discussions also became "livelier." The students recalled more names of people and places, and recalled more general information shown in the video.
"We're living in an age where our students are so distracted by technology that they sometimes forget where they should focus their attention when engaged with technology or media," Collins said. "Turning on captions seems to enable students to focus on specific information."
Collins said the study was one-of-a-kind because it "explored captions' impact broadly" instead of only looking at how they could benefit students with disabilities.
Collins said the information is particularly helpful for teaching in his field, American Indian studies.
"Addressing the needs of Native American students with learning disabilities has recently come into greater focus at the same time as the field is beginning to move beyond the impacts of colonialism on Native American students and toward asking more specifically what those students need in higher education," the news release stated.
The study titled "Using Captions to Reduce Barriers to Native American Student Success" was published in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal.
