Introduction
Video has been used in education for decades, and there are expanding audiovisual resources for higher education (Moussiades 2017; Brame 2016; Duffy 2008; Betrancourt 2018). These resources have become essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, as educators worldwide are forced to move their courses online with little preparation. In particular, free online videos - such as those on YouTube, or from online education platforms such as iBiology or HHMI BioInteractive - provide biology educators with a wealth of curated educational content that is easy to share with their students remotely.
Unlike lecture capture, online videos from external resources can provide unique perspectives on topics and concepts, and they can also showcase broad representations of scientists and their research (Schinske 2016). In addition, videos are amenable to a flipped approach, which frees up valuable synchronous class time for discussion and feedback between educators and students (Gross et al. 2015; Herreid & Schiller 2013; Bishop & Verleger 2013; Sletten 2017). The use of online videos in STEM higher education has been described previously (Dupuis 2013; Cox 2011; Barry 2015; Rajan & Veguilla 2018; Schinske 2016) and at least one study reports an association between online videos and higher exam scores, particularly for students with lower grade point averages (Dupuis 2013). To our knowledge, the use of online videos for teaching undergraduate ecology and evolution has not been reported, nor has this use been evaluated at any level.
Many educators forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic are unable to create their own videos for remote teaching. Now more than ever, educators are likely searching for existing content (e.g., on YouTube) to share with their students online. It is important that educators identify quality video content that can support their student learning goals and which students will find engaging. In this case study, we report the use of nine free online educational videos for teaching concepts and competencies in evolution and ecology in a large-enrollment introductory biology course. The videos were integrated into the curriculum via weekly homework assignments in a traditional (in-person) course. We collected student feedback on each video and performed a qualitative analysis to identify the strengths and opportunities of this approach. We share the results of our case study, and provide guidance for the use of online videos in teaching evolution and ecology remotely.