Student Final Review Videos

The week before our AP Chemistry final exam I always provide my students with a practice exam. In the past I would spend a ridiculously long period of time creating screencast solutions to each problem. This year I wised up and had students create the videos. I am embarrassed that it took so long for me to realize that not only is this a more efficient process, but a much richer learning experience for the students. Here is the process.

Step 1: Distribute final practice final examto students. Step 2: Provide students with whiteboards and markers (we use sticky whiteboard material that is adhered to each table). Step 3: Assign students a partner. Partners rotate between recording and solving so each person must explain a complete solution. Step 4: Create a private submission form for the video of each solution. Step 5: Keep the form and the associated response sheet inside the class workspace so students can submit and review videos without publishing them to the open web.

The class response favored the authentic whiteboard format over polished screencasts. Watching the physical sequence of a solution made the reasoning easier to follow and created a useful change from teacher-generated review. That feedback pushed me to preserve the method while keeping the recordings inside the class.