An examination of student preference for traditional didactic or chunking teaching strategies in an online learning environment

This research examined first year undergraduate tertiary student preferences for different online video playback options by comparing a didactic long lecture recording versus a series of topical ‘chunked’ videos of identical learning material in an information literacy unit. Student preference was determined by student unique download choice of streaming video lecture material, cumulative visits and percent completion of viewing of lecture videos. De-identified click-stream data for 1268 university students across two academic years 2016 (n = 647) and 2017 (n = 621) were pooled to examine student preference. The major findings indicated a significant preference for chunk-style videos between 3 and 17 min duration when compared to traditional long-view didactic lecture materials. Results also highlighted an increase in unique views (60%–67%), cumulative visits (54%–67%) and percentage completions (25%) of chunked videos compared to didactic lectures (60 min). Additionally, student total viewing of the unit information influenced the final grade for the unit. Student preference and success were in favour of the smaller chunk-style lectures, which may also improve student attention, assist with time management to complete the materials and increase unit engagement. The overall findings of this research re-enforce the value of student-centric learning design in university education settings.