How much do students learn when they double the speed of their class videos?

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College students try to cram more learning into a shorter period by watching recorded lectures that are double their normal speed. Does comprehension suffer as a result?

No, up to a point. A new study shows that students retain information when they watch lectures at twice their actual speed. The study's senior author and a UCLA professor of psychology said that once they exceed that limit, things begin to get blurry.

As part of the study, 85% of UCLA students said they watched lecture videos at fast speeds, and the researchers wanted to know if that affected learning and knowledge retention.

Rome can be built in less than 15 minutes.

In one experiment, the researchers divided 231 UCLA undergraduates into four groups and had them watch two 13-to-15-minute lecture videos, one on the Roman Empire and the other on real estate appraisals. One group watched at normal speed, another at double speed, and the final group at 2.5 times normal speed. They were told not to take notes or pause the videos.

They were given comprehension tests on the individual videos after viewing them. The normal-speed group scored 26 correct answers out of 40, while the double-time group scored 25. The 2.5-speed group only answered 22 questions correctly.

The same groups were given different tests to assess what they retained. The normal-speed group averaged 24 out of 40, the double-speed group averaged 21 and the 1.5-speed group averaged 20.

The lead author said that video speed had little effect on both immediate and delayed comprehension until learners exceeded twice the normal speed.

The researchers tested various combinations of speed-watching and normal-speed viewing of the two videos. Among the results are listed.

Twice at double speed and once at normal speed.

One group of students watched the videos at double speed twice in a row, while another watched them at normal speed. Both groups answered 25 of the 40 questions correctly after viewing the show.

One group watched the videos at normal speed while the other group watched them at double speed for a week. The speed-watchers performed better than the one-time, normal-speed group when tested a week after the first group watched the videos.

The speeds are switched.

A group that watched the videos at normal speed, then at double speed, scored slightly better immediately after their viewings than a group that watched at double speed. Two other groups followed the same viewing procedure and were asked the same questions a week after watching.

People speak at a rate of about 150 words per minute, and previous research has shown that comprehension begins to decline as speech approaches double speed.

He and Murphy said they were impressed that students could learn and retain knowledge at fast speeds.

College students can save time and learn more efficiently by watching pre-recorded lectures at faster speeds if they use the time saved for additional studying, but they shouldn't exceed double the normal playback speed," Murphy said. We caution against using this strategy to simply save time, as our study didn't reveal significant drawbacks to watching lecture videos at up to double the normal speed. Students can improve their learning by taking practice tests and reviewing flashcards.

The strategy of speeding up videos may not be effective with difficult course material.

The research is available online.

Learning in double time: The effect of lecture video speed on immediate and delayed comprehension was written by Murphy and colleagues. There is a book titled "10.1002/acp.3899."

How much do students learn when they double the speed of their class videos?

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