Imagine, for a moment, the following scenario: for some ostensibly justifiable reason, you were unable to attend your 8:30 a.m. chemistry lecture last Wednesday. A week later, determined not to miss out on what was touted as an engaging discourse on covalent bonding, you resolutely cinch your robe, pour a cup of coffee and take a seat at your computer.
Welcome to the future of learning at Princeton — a complete webcast of the lecture you missed is only a mouse-click away.
Sound like cruel fiction? It is not. Just ask any student enrolled in CHM 202: General Chemistry.
"It's great," Mina Yassaee '04 said, "because anything you miss you can watch on the web. And, as far as I've heard, ours is the only class that offers this."
The idea of videotaping lectures and displaying them on the course website was the brainchild of one of the course's professors, George McLendon — who also serves as chairman of the advisory board for the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.
"The rationale behind this is simple," McLendon said. "As our range of technologies develop, we have the ability to create different opportunities for learning."
In the case of CHM 202, each bi-weekly lecture is taped by two video cameras and the combined material is edited by members of the University's Information Technology team. Roughly a week later, the finished product is made available to students online.
"It's extraordinarily helpful for those who are sick and for athletes because there is no need to rely on a friend's notes to catch up," McLendon said.
Despite this option, some students said the poor video quality and Internet buffering delays detract from the feature's overall utility.
"You end up sitting around a lot, waiting for the video to load," Yassaee noted.
"It's actually a very difficult process that involves a number of technical issues," McLendon explained. "Ideally, we would like to be able to offer students the ability to jump to certain areas of the lecture and to replay specific segments. We're learning from it and trying to improve."
Technical considerations aside, for those who must choose daily between early-morning academics and that extra hour or two of precious repose, the decision-making process could soon become much less taxing on the conscience.
"Who cares about missing a lecture when you can see it on the web?" Jia Shen '04 joked, embodying what could be the University's greatest concern about web-based lectures.
McLendon said, however, that he and his colleagues were careful not to overlook the possibility that students may abuse this unique opportunity.
"That was a concern," admitted professor Robert L'Esperance, who also teaches CHM 202. "But that's why [the web-postings are] delayed by a week. In addition, students have weekly quizzes in precept and if they don't go to lecture, they won't know the material."
"I do not view this as some sort of replacement," he continued, "because you really lose the dynamics of a live lecture."
Still, it is not hard to imagine how instruction at Princeton might change if other courses follow suit.
"Student feedback has generally been pretty good," McLendon said. "With that in mind, we'll sit down at the end of the semester and decide whether or not this is something that could, or even should, be replicated more broadly."
No doubt, many hope the administration will continue to support this particular brand of technological initiative.
"I certainly wouldn't complain if all my classes were like that," laughed Yassaee.
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