Thematic Stimulus Presentation in Asynchronous-Based Coursework Lectures

While synchronous, direct methods of teaching technology may be more traditional (Lovett et al., 2011; Saville et al., 2013), students may prefer or be limited to an asynchronous platform of learning based on environmental variables (Choe et al., 2019). Some of the instruction given in asynchronous courses may be delivered in lecture-based format. Ensuring that students are interested and engaged with the material is a high priority of many instructors and finding new ways to encourage engagement should be a priority in research. This study examined if the addition of novel, thematic stimuli in the form of costume pieces (novelty hats with themed language) would increase student engagement in pre-recorded lectures for an asynchronous masters level course. When comparing the results between a control and an experimental group, the first experimental test results showed better outcomes including a decreased range of scores between the lowest score and highest score across group participants and an increased average score on the exam. Following the first experimental test, however, scores leveled out to scores similar to baseline and the control groups, suggesting either satiation (i.e., wearing off of the effect) or anticipation of the procedure, resulting in no effect. Limitations and future research considerations are also discussed.