Incorporating Screencasts into Chemical Engineering Courses: Online Videos as Course Supplements and Student Feedback

An online inventory of screencasts covering topics in six core chemical engineering courses has been created to provide learning resources for undergraduate students. Screencasts are recordings with accompanying narration, and are mostly made by screen captures of Tablet PC screens. They are designed to supplement courses, rather than replace the experience in the classroom. In contrast to video lectures, where a professor is recorded during class, these screencasts are shorter (similar to 10 min) videos that present solutions to solving example problems, explain important concepts, provide instructional tutorials on using software, or reinforce key topics in more detail than afforded in the classroom. Screencasts provide a way for students to use course materials at their own pace, time, and location. Student feedback from anonymous surveys suggests that the majority of students find them "useful", "very useful", or "one of the best features of the course". Currently more than 225 screencasts are available at www.learncheme.com. They are designed to be used in six chemical engineering courses: materials and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, kinetics, heat transfer, and separations. Since the site went online in August 2010, these screencasts have been watched over 16,000 times.