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This Week's Topic Videos in the Classroom Videos provide another way for your students to understand the course material. This week we will discuss how to evaluate, when to show, and where to find videos for your course. See the Download Depot for a video evaluation sheet. This Week's Tips When to Show Videos (Monday) Review your syllabus and topics for opportunities to show videos in your course. Depending on your discipline, videos can help your students comprehend an actual event (e.g., historical events) or a physical aspect covered in your lecture (e.g., geology). Topics that suit video well include: scientific, natural, or prehistoric topics or events; history; examples of procedures and processes. Download your free Video Evaluation Sheet today! Video Sources (Tuesday) Finding videos with interesting and suitable content can take a while. Here are some suggestions to help you with your search: Ask your colleagues about their video collection. Investigate the university library. Check out textbook and video publishers. Query the appropriate organizations (e.g., National Geographic for natural phenomena and PBS for historical events). Evaluating Course Videos (Wednesday) Watch and evaluate potential course videos before deciding to use them. Keep a notepad on hand and make notes: What is the content and length? How is the content presented, and does it relate to your textbook(s) and lectures? Would your students enjoy watching the video? How would you evaluate student comprehension? Are there instructor and/or study guides? Encouraging Retention of Video Content (Thursday) Before starting a video, provide your students with verbal or written guidelines on what is important in the video. Keep the following issues in mind: Use the central themes of your course as a guide. Try not to focus too much on details; these are hard to retain. Consider giving your students a simple questionnaire containing questions about the video. Testing for Comprehension of Video Content (Friday) Testing comprehension of a video can be tricky because some students will have a hard time remembering all of the information. Typical ways to test or enhance comprehension include: test or quiz; class discussion; class presentations; online discussions or chat.