JoVE in Action is a series of blog posts highlighting how STEM educators worldwide have used JoVE to support their remote teaching efforts. We hope these stories will be helpful for instructors looking for effective ways to deliver their science and lab courses online or in hybrid formats.
Dr. Eric Greska is an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware in the Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology. His research interests include reducing lower-extremity injuries and improving physical performance through interventions.
Reduce student costs
Dr. Greska started using JoVE in 2020 with a vision to reduce student costs. “Our mission was to bring textbook costs down and remove barriers to students’ learning,” he says. JoVE facilitates library-led institutional subscription models, allowing faculty and students to minimize teaching and learning resource expenses. “At the University of Delaware, we already had a subscription to JoVE; therefore, all this educational content was already included in that subscription; there was no added cost on top.”
Find out more about how JoVE aligns with Affordable Learning and Zero Textbook Cost Initiatives here.
Short and engaging video resources facilitating mastery-based learning
Dr. Greska says, “You know it’s a great resource when JoVE focuses on creating visually useful video resources that are short, detailed, and cover important components of the experiments and concepts.” JoVE Education resources support hands-on learning with videos illustrating the theory, methods, concept application, and real-world examples, ideal for teaching scientific fundamentals and enabling easy visualization of intricate details that are challenging to understand using text alone. Dr. Greska is now “switching his coursework over to mastery-based learning so that JoVE videos are an essential part of that. [His] students will have to watch these videos and then answer questions relative to them, ensuring that they are getting mastery of this content…and making courses much more in-depth”.
Subtitles feature on video resources
Dr. Greska highlighted the subtitle feature available on JoVE and says that it has helped his international students overcome language barriers and comprehend concepts otherwise difficult to understand in English by non-native English speakers. JoVE videos offer subtitles and voiceovers in 14 languages, making them accessible worldwide.
Keeping students on track through scheduling
Keeping students on track is challenging and can hinder student performance. JoVE helps overcome that problem with an option to assign tasks. Dr. Greska adds that a JoVE Curriculum Specialist helped him understand all the features of JoVE, such as LMS integration/embedding, question banks, and quizzes, and offered one-on-one technical support. “I found it very simple to set due dates to keep students on target and help them manage time. Students can also re-utilize the resources throughout the semester.”
Dr. Greska recommends that students fully utilize JoVE resources to understand subjects that may not have been a prerequisite. “JoVE resources are essential in my courses to help students learn the core concepts since many come from different backgrounds and are new to specific subjects. JoVE video resources can be a real asset in enhancing complex concept comprehension or helping accelerate research work.
Embed resources into Learning Management Systems
Dr. Greska highlights how he easily embeds JoVE videos into the university’s LMS during the webinar. JoVE Research and Education content can easily be embedded into any LMS (Learning Management System), such as Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, and Brightspace.
Want to hear more about Dr. Greska’s experience flipping his STEM courses by introducing JoVE videos? Request a complete recording of Dr. Greska’s recent webinar here. Are you looking to reduce student costs and enhance your courses with video resources?
