Does Attending Lectures Matter when Lecture Recordings are Available? Results for a Preliminary Study Comparing Attending and Non-attending Nursing Students in Bioscience and Pharmacology

Abstract

Historically, positive relationships between lecture attendance and academic outcomes have been reported. Lecture recordings have been increasingly introduced into the teaching environment, and it is not clear whether these affect this relationship. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of lecture attendance on academic outcomes in bioscience and pharmacology for nursing students provided with access to lecture recordings in 2013 and 2014. To do this, lecture attendance was monitored at a lecture late in semester, and attendance and non-attendance was related to academic outcomes (grade, overall mark, examinations, and ongoing assessment). We show that nursing students attending lectures in bioscience and pharmacology have better academic outcomes than the non-attending students, despite the availability of lecture recordings. This preliminary study suggests that for nursing students studying science, despite the availability of lecture recordings, it may be important to continue to provide face-to-face lectures, as students that attend lectures outperform those that do not. Further studies are required to clarify whether this applies to other students, and why this positive relationship is maintained despite the availability of lecture recordings.