Podcasting in higher education to enhance student’s deep research skills and retention

Abstract

Podcasting is an ever growing learning tool being implemented into university level courses, but how is it actually used in the classroom? Research shows the positive effects of podcasting on student motivation and information retention. The research needed for students to speak freely as an expert on a specific topic can take months. Students are able to use research techniques such as deep learning in a real environment with actual results. Students also research using parallel pairing, which is a technique that has students research similar topics separately but perform their final podcast as a pair. The act of recording one’s voice is a record of one’s efforts and ability at a specific point in their life. This is often seen as a positive experience by students. They also learn the importance of opinions versus facts. They learn to delineate and identify when someone is speaking from a factual standpoint based on research versus a personal opinion. This research paper also shows how project-based learning techniques (PBL) can be implemented to create the environment needed to carry out such a course. Students are given a high level of autonomy to coincide with their hectic job hunting schedules. Deadlines are used to keep students on track to finishing everything on time and within a specific timeline. This style of class requires specific knowledge from the instructor to help guide the students to the final moment when they perform their podcast.