We investigate student listening compliance, preference for audio versus print content, and exam performance when professionally produced podcasts are assigned as “readings” and provided in both audio and print formats. Listening/reading compliance for the assigned podcasts was high compared with figures reported in previous research. The most popular format for accessing the content was listening, followed by reading, followed by doing both. Most students perceived their selected mode made it easier to focus and comprehend. Many students switched their mode of access between assignments, and some mentioned that having options was important. Students who read podcast transcripts were more likely to answer exam questions correctly than those who only listened to the podcasts, a finding likely tied to multitasking behavior reported by listeners. Our findings suggest instructors should provide students access to both podcast audio and transcripts and explicitly teach students how to best engage with podcast content.
BurchfieldColin M.SappingtonJohn. 2000. “Compliance with Required Reading Assignments.” Teaching of Psychology27(2):58–60.
2.
DanielDavid B.2010. “They Hear, but Do Not Listen: Retention for Podcasted Material in a Classroom Context.” Teaching of Psychology37(3):199–203.
3.
CastellanoUrsulaDeAngelisJosephClark-IbáñezMarisol. 2008. “Cultivating a Sociological Perspective Using Nontraditional Texts.” Teaching Sociology36(3):240–53.
4.
ConradPeter. 1985. “The Meaning of Medications: Another Look at Compliance.” Social Science & Medicine20(1):29–37.
5.
HattebergSarah J.SteffyKody. 2013. “Increasing Reading Compliance of Undergraduates: An Evaluation of Compliance Methods.” Teaching Sociology41(4):346–52.
6.
HeilesenSimon B.2010. “What Is the Academic Efficacy of Podcasting?” Computers & Education55(3):1063–68.
7.
HewKhe Foon. 2009. “Use of Audio Podcast in K–12 and Higher Education: A Review of Research Topics and Methodologies.” Educational Technology Research and Development57(3):333–57.
8.
HoferBarbara. 2011. “Motivation in the College Classroom.” Pp. 140–50 in McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, edited by SvinivkiM.McKeachieW. J.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
9.
HowardJay R.2004. “Just-in-Time Teaching in Sociology or How I Convinced My Students to Actually Read the Assignment.” Teaching Sociology32(4):385–90.
10.
KawaguchiRiku. 2019. “Give Methods a Chance Paper.” Assignment in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
11.
KingColby. 2017. “Subsidies, Uneven Development, and the Race to the Bottom.” Assignment, Audio, Class Activity, Lecture, PowerPoint, Website in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
12.
KingColby. 2020. “Information Literacy and the Marshmallow Test in the Replication Crisis.” Assignment, Audio, Essay in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
13.
KordsmeierGregory Trainor. 2016. “Sawbones and the Social Construction of Health and Illness.” Assignment in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
LevinJackFoxJames Alan. 2004. Elementary Statistics in Social Research: The Essentials. Boston: Pearson.
16.
LoeMeikaCuttinoLeigh. 2008. “Grappling with the Medicated Self: The Case of ADHD College Students.” Symbolic Interaction31(3):303–23.
17.
LongScott. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
LotspeichHayley Lauren, and Chris Salituro. 2011. “A Story of Positive Deviance.” Assignment in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
19.
McCullaghP.NelderJ. A.2019. “vce_options – Variance estimators” Pp. 1–5 in Base Reference Manual. College Station, TX: Stata Press. https://stata.com/manuals/rvce_option.pdf.
20.
McKinneyDaniDyckJennifer L.LuberElise S.2009. “iTunes University and the Classroom: Can Podcasts Replace Professors?” Computers & Education52(3):617–23.
21.
McKinneyKathleenDayMelissa D.2012. “GA Multi-institutional Study of Students’ Perceptions and Experiences in the Capstone Course in Sociology.” Teaching Sociology40(2):142–57.
22.
MetzDonald L.1983. “Triangulation in the Classroom: The Importance of Media.” Teaching Sociology10(3):319–36.
23.
MisraJoya. 2000. “Integrating ‘the Real World’ into Introduction to Sociology: Making Sociological Concepts Real.” Teaching Sociology28(4):346–363.
24.
Oslawski-LopezJamie. 2019. “Constructing an Introduction to Sociology ‘Reader’ Using Podcasts and Blog Posts.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the North Central Sociological Association, Cincinnati, OH, March29.
25.
PedenBlaine F.DomaskBenjamin Z.2011. “Do Podcasts Engage and Educate College Students?” Pp. 170–77 in Promoting Student Engagement, Vol. 1, edited by MillerR. L.AmselE.KowalewskiB. M.BeinsB. C.KeithK. D.PedenB. E. Retrieved from http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/pse2011/vol1/index.php.
26.
PeltonJulie A.2013. “‘Seeing the Theory Is Believing’: Writing about Film to Reduce Theory Anxiety.” Teaching Sociology41(1):106–20.
PriceChristy. 2010. “Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy? The New ‘R’s for Engaging Millennial Learners.” Essays from E-xcellence in Teaching9:29–34.
31.
PrinceBarbara F.2020. “Podcasts: The Potential and Possibilities.” Teaching Sociology48(4):269–271.
32.
RamirezMichael. 2013. “Intersectionality in the Toy Store.” Class Activity in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
33.
RogowskyBeth A.CalhounBarbara M.TallalPaula. 2016. “Does Modality Matter? The Effects of Reading, Listening, and Dual Modality on Comprehension.” SAGE Open 6(3):1–9.
SchmidtJennifer A.RosenbergJoshua M.BeymerPatrick N.2018. “A Person-in-Context Approach to Student Engagement in Science: Examining Learning Activities and Choice.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching55(1):19–43.
StataCorp. 2015. Stata Statistical Software: Release 14. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.
39.
U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. “Table 5: Type of College and Year Enrolled for college Students 15 Years Old and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, Attendance Status, Control of School, and Enrollment Status: October 2019.” In School Enrollment in the United States: October 2019 – Detailed Tables. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2019/demo/school-enrollment/2019-cps.html.
40.
Van AukenPaul. 2013. “Maybe It’s Both of Us: Engagement and Learning.” Teaching Sociology41(2):207–15.
41.
VedantamShankar. 2018. “Lost in Translation: The Power of Language to Shape How We View the World.” January 29 in Hidden Brain: A Conversation about Life’s Unseen Patterns, produced by NPR, podcast, 35:25. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/581657754.
42.
WaltersKyla. 2020. “Planning ‘Real Utopias’ through Federal Spending.” Class Activity in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
43.
WeissRobert Stuart. 1994. Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. New York: Free Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
