1. ANALYZING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN CAPTIONED VIDEOS IN
ONLINE DEVELOPMENTAL MATH COURSES AND THE IMPACT ON
SUCCESS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
A Doctoral Dissertation Research
Submitted to
Faculty of Argosy University, Twin Cities
In Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Education
Rebecca Graetz, EdS
Argosy University
September 2014

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ANALYZING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN CAPTIONED VIDEOS IN
ONLINE DEVELOPMENTAL MATH COURSES AND THE IMPACT ON
SUCCESS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
© Copyright 2013
Rebecca Graetz
All Rights Reserved

3. iii
Statement of Copyright Release to Argosy University
I hereby grant to Argosy University and its agents the non-exclusive
license to make copies of my Dissertation at will and to archive and make
accessible my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in all forms of
media, now or hereafter known.
I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my Dissertation. I also
retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part
of the Dissertation.
My final Dissertation will be submitted to Argosy University electronically
and archived by the Library as I request:
_X_ Worldwide Immediate Publication Access.
___ Publication Release embargo of one (1) year.
___ I elect not to publish my dissertation.

4. iv
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this dissertation to Phil Graetz. He reminded me how old
I will be when I earn my EdD. Well, I now qualify for an AARP card as I said I
would when I finished my EdD and I appreciate the support these past 12 years
as I pursued a life goal. I would also like to devote this to Jared, Andrew, and
John who reminded me that writing a dissertation was just one big paper and I
could do this in a flash. It was a short time and they are correct, that was another
big paper. Dr. Rod Pakonen and Dr. Charlotte Pakonen have cheered me on at
every degree I have earned in the past 12 years and celebrated each degree
along the way. And to my friend, Dr. Anna Wasescha, who has shown me what
a true leader in academics should be by her actions in pursuing what is right and
just for students. Thank you all for lifting me up and encouraging me to reach for
a dream that came true.

5. v
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Susan Huber as my dissertation chair. I
appreciate the weekly meetings and her expertise in APA. I would also like to
acknowledge Dr. Stephen O’Connor as he mentored me monthly along the way
and to Dr. Rob Franchino for stepping in as a second committee member on this
journey.
I would also like to acknowledge Carrie Naughton for giving the
opportunity to use her online classrooms developmental Math as a means to
create a very good research project. Mark Peterson was instrumental in
coaching me through the implementation of this process and had a vast
knowledge base that helped me immensely.

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ANALYZING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN CAPTIONED VIDEOS IN
ONLINE DEVELOPMENTAL MATH COURSES AND THE IMPACT ON
SUCCESS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
Abstract of Doctoral Dissertation Research
Submitted to
Faculty of Argosy University, Twin Cities
In Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Education
Rebecca Graetz, EdS
Argosy University
September 2014

7. vii
Abstract
Online or distance learning has been around for many years. With new
technologies being created frequently, online or distance learning has blossomed
into a very lucrative business as well as a recognized and accredited means for
students to earn a college degrees. One technology used frequently for learning
is the creation and viewing of videos for students to use for learning. Videos can
be a means to deliver a lecture, create a project or supplement the content of a
course. With the inception and norm of videos being viewed for online learning,
comes the concern of making all content in an online environment accessible to
all learners. Differentiated instruction is a pedagogical approach to teaching and
learning for students of differing readiness levels, interests, and modes of
learning within the same classroom (Tomlinson et al., 2003, p. 41). As Stradling
and Saunders (1993) stated, differentiated instruction is “the process of matching
learning targets, tasks, activities, resources, and learning support to individual
learners' needs, styles, and rates of learning” (p. 129). Cognitive style learning
refers to how a learner prefers to receive information: visually, auditory, and
kinesthetically, as well as forming and retaining information (Mackeracher 2004,
p. 77). Using this theory helped address the need for videos to be delivered to
students with visual, auditory and kinesthetically for learning. This quantitative
action research project analyzed the implementation of open captioned videos in
two courses where videos were required for viewing and learning subject matter
better addressing differentiated and cognitive learning styles. Introduction to
Algebra and Intermediate Algebra were being taught online at Inver Hills

8. viii
Community College. Data was analyzed from before captioning and after
captioning and focused on student success, time viewing videos and
demographics of students.

9. ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: THE PROBLEM ....................................................................... 1
Problem Background ......................................................................................... 1
Purpose ............................................................................................................... 5
Problem Statement............................................................................................. 5
Research Question............................................................................................. 6
Limitations .......................................................................................................... 6
Delimitations....................................................................................................... 7
Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 7
Educational Significance ................................................................................... 8
Implementation of Process............................................................................. 9
Learning Styles .............................................................................................. 9
Action research ............................................................................................ 10
Americans with Disabilities Act..................................................................... 10
Audio Learners............................................................................................. 11
Closed Captioning........................................................................................ 11
Cognitive Learning ....................................................................................... 11
Desire2Learn................................................................................................ 11
Developmental ............................................................................................. 11
Developmental ............................................................................................. 12
Differentiated Instruction .............................................................................. 12
Kinesthetic Learners .................................................................................... 12
Open Ended Resources............................................................................... 12
Quality Matters............................................................................................. 12
Section 504 .................................................................................................. 13
Section 508 .................................................................................................. 13
Student Success .......................................................................................... 13
Universal Design.......................................................................................... 13
Visual Learner.............................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................................... 15
Introduction......................................................................................................... 15
Online Education.......................................................................................... 15
Learner Types.............................................................................................. 19
Accessibility ................................................................................................. 20
ADA Impacts Online Video Accessibility ...................................................... 21
Videos in Education ..................................................................................... 22
The State of Video in Education 2014: A Report.......................................... 24
Use of Lecture Capture in Higher Education................................................ 26
Making Effective Video Tutorials.................................................................. 27
Need for Open Captioned Videos to Enhance Learning .............................. 28
Universal Design and Open Captioning ....................................................... 29
The Essential Higher Ed Closed Captioning Guide...................................... 30
Sustainable Captioning in California ............................................................ 30

10. x
Cost of Video Done Professionally Versus by Student Workers .................. 32
Conclusion of Literature Review................................................................... 33
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 34
Research Design................................................................................................ 34
Selection of Subjects.................................................................................... 34
Description of Location................................................................................. 35
Access Permissions..................................................................................... 35
Description of Participants.................................................................................. 35
Data Collection Method ...................................................................................... 36
Instrument and Pilot Study........................................................................... 36
Planned Data Analysis................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS .............................................................. 39
Demographic of Students in Study............................................................... 39
Student Who Were Successful in MATH0840 and MATH0940.................... 41
Students Who Failed Overall in MATH0840 and MATH0940....................... 43
Time Spent Watching Videos....................................................................... 44
Videos Viewed for MATH0840 Before and After Captioning........................ 47
Videos Viewed for MATH0940 Before and After Captioning........................ 48
Successful Grade Distribution...................................................................... 49
Grade Distribution for MATH0840................................................................ 49
Grade Distribution for MATH0940................................................................ 50
Failed Grade Distribution ............................................................................. 52
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION............................................................................... 53
Implementation Process Observations and Discussions.............................. 53
Observation.................................................................................................. 54
Discussion.................................................................................................... 55
Demographics of Students Observations and Discussions.......................... 57
Observation.................................................................................................. 58
Discussion.................................................................................................... 62
Time Spent Watching Videos Observations and Discussions...................... 63
MATH840 .............................................................................................. 63
Observation.................................................................................................. 64
Discussion.................................................................................................... 65
MATH0940 ............................................................................................ 66
Observation.................................................................................................. 66
Discussion.................................................................................................... 67
Student Success and Grade Distribution Observations and Discussions .... 67
MATH0840 ............................................................................................ 68
Observation.................................................................................................. 69
Discussion.................................................................................................... 69
MATH0940................................................................................................... 70
Observation.................................................................................................. 71
Discussion.................................................................................................... 72
Presentation at D2L Ignite............................................................................ 72
Presentation at D2L Fusion.......................................................................... 75

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Discussion.................................................................................................... 77
Case Study with BrightSpace....................................................................... 78
Limitations ........................................................................................... 79
Further Studies............................................................................................. 79
REFERENCES................................................................................................... 82

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CHAPTER ONE: THE PROBLEM
Problem Background
Accessibility in online courses is an area that has not been widely
researched in higher education. While the enrollment in online education has
moved quickly, the area of what makes online course accessible for all students
has not. Allen and Seaman (2014) stated that the number of students taking at
least one online course increased by over 411,000 to a new total of 7.1 million. It
was further noted that the proportion of higher education students taking at least
one online course is at an all-time high of 33.5 %.
In the spring of 2013, Inver Hills Community College (IHCC) created a
task force to look at the issue of accessibility in online courses for students at
their campus. IHCC is a community college within the Minnesota State Colleges
and University (MnSCU) System. The task force used the National Center on
Disability and Access Foundation (NCADE). NCADE was hosting a project
called Gaining Online Accessible Learning through a Self-Study (Project Goals).
Project Goals is a website that is in use for a self-study of an organization by
asking many questions and creating recommendations based on the answers to
specific questions. The task force made recommendations to the college and
one key point for accessible online learning was to embed open or closed
captioning in all videos used in courses as well as provide a written transcript for
students.
Accessibility for online and hybrid courses is often times overlooked by
instructors as making a course accessible was never a norm within academics

13. 2
without a requirement to comply with the American Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA). Introduction to Algebra (MATH0840) and Intermediate Algebra
(MATH0940) were offered online as well as hybrid and were developmental Math
courses at IHCC. Viewings videos was required for these courses. Opened
captioning for all videos in these two courses was implemented in the academic
year 2013-2014. Quality Matters (2013) Standard 8.2 states “The course
contains equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.” Quality Matters
(QM) is a faculty-centered, peer review process that is designed to certify the
quality of online and blended courses. Introduction to Algebra (MATH0840) and
Intermediate Algebra (MATH0940) at Inver Hills Community College (IHCC) are
two courses that were offered in online and hybrid platforms using Desire 2 Learn
(or D2L). These courses were developmental Math and focused on students
who needed to bring math skills to a level where the student could pass College
Algebra.
As IHCC was going through the process of analyzing the accessibility of
online courses with the help of an Accessibility Task Force, Carrie Naughton, an
online instructor, stepped forward asking if she could make her class more
accessible by having the videos in her course that were required for viewing,
transcribed with open or closed captions. The hypothesis was the benefit to
students would far outweigh the cost to the campus as well as lead to better
success in online developmental Math courses. This was a pilot project with
analysis to be shared with the academic community at IHCC. Because faculty,
per union contract, are not required to make courses accessible to students

14. 3
using Quality Matters, it is the intent of this pilot project to promote Quality
Matters to faculty on campus as well as the importance of accessibility in all
documents and videos used in teaching a course. The courses were a pre-
requisite for College Algebra and were QM approved.
Success was defined as students who passed the course with 75% or
higher on the final grade of the course. Per Catherine Breuer, TSA/Perkins
Analyst who de-identified the data, student success is defined as a student who
received an A, B, C, or P in the course (June 3, 2014, Breuer, personal
communication). Retention was researched and defined as a student who took
Introduction to Algebra (MATH0840) continued on successfully to the next course
which was Intermediate Algebra (MATH0940). Retention was also researched
and defined as a student who took Intermediate Algebra (MATH0940) and
continued on to successfully complete College Algebra.
IHCC decided to pilot this project as well as fund the cost of open or
closed captioning and transcription. Funding was secured for the cost of
captioning through “end of year funding” which means left over funds that needed
to be spent. Videos that were already recorded and being used in Introduction to
Algebra (MATH0840) and Intermediate Algebra (MATH0940) were held through
a cloud-based or virtual media space called Kaltura Media Space. Automatic
Sync Technologies was the vendor used for open captioning and transcribing of
the videos. There was a process that was implemented for videos in Kaltura to
be snagged by Automatic Sync; transcribed and captioned; then placed back into
Kaltura. Since Kaltura is a media server, videos can be placed in D2L directly

15. 4
from Kaltura. Data can be extracted from D2L as to when and how long students
actually view videos. IHCC, as well as MnSCU, was interested in the data and
research that can be extracted from the pilot project.
There are two areas of Federal laws that have an impact on video caption
and accessibility to all students. These laws and regulations are part of ADA.
Under ADA, there are two laws or sections that address disabilities. Section 504
and Section 508 are laws that have standards attached to each addressing
accommodations for disabilities and accessibility.
Section 504 requires recipients to provide to students with disabilities
appropriate educational services designed to meet the individual needs of such
students to the same extent as the needs of students without disabilities are met.
At the postsecondary educational level, a qualified student with a disability is a
student with a disability who meets the academic and technical standards
requisite for admission or participation in the institution's educational program or
activity (www2.ed.gov).
Section 508 requires any electronic and information technology used,
maintained, developed, or procured by the Federal government to allow persons
with disabilities, comparable access to information and technology. This applies
to persons with disabilities who use assistive technology to read and navigate
electronic materials (www.hhs.gov). In December of 2013, social media sites,
such as YouTube and Facebook, made the distribution of online video a thriving
industry, and video has revolutionized the online learning world. With online
video so embedded (pun intended) in our lives, it makes perfect sense for

16. 5
government agencies to use video to engage its citizens. The U.S. federal
government is mandated to deliver information and services in a way that is
accessible to all federal employees and U.S. citizens – 17% percent of whom
have a disability that impacts computer use (www.section508.gov).
In 2012, Charlotte Lanvers, a Staff Attorney for the Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund, stated “As colleges and universities manage the
content on their Web sites they have an obligation to ensure it is accessible.
Anything that is being actively used in class or available to the student body at
large must be equally accessible to one and all – this obviously includes tools
such as lectures and associated slides. For audio visual components of Web
sites, the captions must be available all the time, not just on request only. It also
means that other school controlled content portals must be accessible as well”
(Erler, 2012, p. 3).
Purpose
The purpose of this action research study was to analyze the
implementation and measure the impact of using open captioning in videos that
were required viewing for students in two online and hybrid developmental Math
courses at Inver Hills Community College.
Problem Statement
After participating in an Accessibility Task Force at Inver Hills Community
College, it came to light that students would have a better opportunity for success
if videos that were required for viewing were made accessible with captioning.
The problem was the inability to produce quality captioned videos or locate funds

17. 6
to caption existing videos. One way to determine if this was a viable problem as
well as confirm that there was a need, was to pay for open caption videos then
analyze data from when videos were used that were not captioned versus when
videos were used that were captioned. The learning outcomes from these two
groups of students were compared and a determination made as to whether the
group with captioning had better learning outcomes.
Research Question
The following research questions were considered for this study:
• Is there a correlation between students viewing required videos for online
developmental Math courses that are open captioned and success in
passing an online developmental Math course? Success was defined as
passing the course. The hypothesis was there a correlation between open
captioning and success rates.
• Do open captioned videos available for viewing lead to success in passing
the course?
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) for this project took place at IHCC.
After written certification was granted to do research on this subject from IHCC, it
was then submitted to Argosy University IRB for certification.
Limitations
Limitations of this study are the extent of the sample of students as
participants in the study, as well as the area of developmental online Math
courses. The estimated sample sizes are approximately 80 students from each
academic year for a total of 160 participants.

18. 7
Delimitations
Delimitations for this study were it is limited to community colleges and
developmental online Math courses that use required viewing of videos. The
study may not be relevant to those who teach developmental Math courses face-
to-face or in a blended-hybrid format where there may not be the requirement of
viewed videos.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical frame work based on this research project included
differentiated instruction and cognitive learning styles which addressed visual,
auditory and kinesthetic learning. Accessibility was also the premise for this
research project. Differentiated instruction is a pedagogical approach to teaching
and learning for students of differing readiness levels, interests, and modes of
learning within the same classroom (Tomlinson et al., 2003, p. 41). For
developmental Math students, this meant providing ample opportunity to start
learning where they were the most comfortable and giving them multiple means
of working on a Math problem to learning the subject matter of Algebra. As
Stradling and Saunders (1993) stated, differentiated instruction is “the process of
matching learning targets, tasks, activities, resources, and learning support to
individual learners' needs, styles, and rates of learning” (p. 129). “Cognitive style
learning refers to how a learner prefers to receive information: visually, auditory,
and kinesthetically, as well as forming and retaining information” (Mackeracher
2004, p. 77). By focusing on this theory, it helped define and addressed the
need for videos to be delivered to students with visual, auditory and kinesthetic
for learning. Visual learning was viewing a video, auditory learning was hearing

19. 8
the video and kinesthetic learning was reading the text that was provided for
open captioning. There were many different types of instructional methods that
could be used but differentiated instruction was the best fit for the instructor in
this course. The demographics of the students who took MATH0840 and
MATH0940 were varied from traditional students who were newly graduated from
secondary education to post-traditional students who had opted out of education
for various reasons and were just returning back to college to better themselves.
Educational Significance
The results of this study may bring to the forefront the need for
accessibility and quality courses within the MnSCU. Quality courses were
defined as certified by QM. Currently, there is no policy at the MnSCU level
regarding accessibility in online courses. This study may also answer some
questions around the need for purchasing a bulk order of open captioning
services, the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs), supplemental
materials provided by a textbook company which are accessible and the interest
in instructors imputing open captioning in videos while recording lectures. By
analyzing the implementation of open captioned videos and the impact it may
have on student success in required viewing of courses, this study could be used
for other colleges looking to do a similar task as the move towards accessibility
for students in online courses takes shape state wide. Charting the Future for a
Prosperous Minnesota (2013, p. 2) stated that a challenge is “changes in
technology that create new opportunities for how students can learn, how we can
teach and support their learning and how we can work together” directly pointed

20. 9
to a need within MnSCU as to how that could be done with data to support this
challenge. This dissertation was used as a recommendation for accessibility and
how to collaboratively promote accessibility to administrators and faculty at IHCC
as well as MnSCU.
Implementation of Process
The implementation of this project was defined and implemented in the
summer of 2013. After discussions with the CIO, Mark Peterson, and the
instructor, Carrie Naughton, the process was defined as listed:
• Carrie Naughton defined what videos were to be captioned and placed
them in Kaltura Media Space.
• Videos were tagged in Kaltura Media Space using Kaltura Media Console.
• After videos were tagged correctly, Automatic Sync was able to identify
the videos virtually and imported them to their servers to assign to
transcribers.
• Once the videos were transcribed by Automatic Sync, the videos were
placed back in to Kaltura Media Space by the vendor.
• Open captioned videos with transcripts were placed back into D2L by the
instructor, Carrie Naughton, before the course started.
Learning Styles
“Learning styles are essentially the way a student or person prefers to
learn information. Cognitive style learning refers to how a learner prefers to
receive information: visually, auditory, and kinesthetically, as well as forming and
retaining information” (Mackeracher, 2004, p. 77). Addressing all types of

21. 10
learners under the umbrella of a cognitive style of learning had been a focus of
the instructor who taught courses for this study. The instructor believed that the
success rate of students would increase if a cognitive learning style as well as
visual, audio and kinesthetic were addressed before there was a need and the
approach was more proactive than reactive.
Definition of Terms
Accessibility
Accessibility is defined as making reachable to all. In the instance of
academics and students, it is defined as making all documents and content
within an online course accessibility using software and tools to meet the
student’s needs.
Action research
Action research (Stringer, 2007) is a systematic approach to investigation
that enables people to find effective solutions to problems they confront in their
everyday lives. It is cyclical with recommendations that lead to looking at a
project time and time again.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26,
1990, by President George H. W. Bush. The ADA is one of America's most
comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and
guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone
else to participate in the mainstream of American life.

22. 11
Audio Learners
Audio learners (Pham, 2011) prefer instruction and information to be
presented verbally.
Closed Captioning
Closed Captioning (AccessIT, 2013) is on-screen text descriptions that
display a video product's dialogue, identify speakers, and describe other relevant
sounds that are otherwise inaccessible to people who are deaf or hard of
hearing.
Cognitive Learning
Cognitive learning focuses on three different styles of learning. These are
visual, auditory and kinesthetic or VAK. According to Sarasin (1999) VAK
learning styles referred to human observations channels: visual, hearing and
feeling. It suggested visual learners can learn effectively when they see the
materials; auditory learners like to hear the material; and kinesthetic learns do
best when doing an activity.
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn or D2L (Desire2Learn, 2013) is an online learning
management system that is currently being used by the MnSCU system.
Developmental
Developmental (Learners Dictionary, 2013) is defined as involving
students who need special help to improve in a particular subject. In the situation
of academics, it brings students’ knowledge and skills up to the level of learning
that is needed to successful in college courses.

23. 12
Developmental
Developmental (Carroll & McLaughlin, 2005) in open captioning, the
captions are overlaid on the screen. Open captions are visible to all viewers and
require no special equipment for viewing. Something similar to open captions,
called sub-titles, is still utilized in videos today many times as labels, which
appear briefly on videos, showing quiet introductions to guests.
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated instruction focuses on the integration of designing courses
that gives students multiple options of processing information (Pham, 2011).
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic learners (Pham, 2011) prefer hands-on activities with
movement and action.
Open Ended Resources
Open Ended Resources (OER) are educational materials—textbooks,
research articles, videos, assessments, simulations—that are either licensed
under an open copyright license—for example, Creative Commons—or in the
public domain (2012, Wiley & Green, p. 8)
Quality Matters
Quality Matters (2013) or QM is a faculty-centered, peer review process
that is designed to certify the quality of online and blended courses. QM is a
leader in quality assurance for online education and has received national
recognition for its peer-based approach and continuous improvement in online
education and student learning.

24. 13
Section 504
Section 504 (504) requires recipients to provide to students with
disabilities appropriate educational services designed to meet the individual
needs of such students to the same extent as the needs of students without
disabilities are met.
Section 508
Section 508 (508) requires any electronic and information technology
used, maintained, developed, or procured by the Federal government to allow
persons with disabilities, comparable access to information and technology. This
applies to persons with disabilities who use assistive technology to read and
navigate electronic materials.
Student Success
Student success at IHCC is defined as a student receiving an A, B, C, or P
in the course. This information was found at IHCC College Handbook 2013-
2014.
Universal Design
Universal Design (2013) is a set of principles for curriculum development
that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for
creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for
everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches
that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.

25. 14
Visual Learner
Visual learners (Pham, 2011) prefer written language, pictures, diagrams
and videos.

26. 15
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to analyze the implementation of
open captioned videos required for viewing in online developmental Introduction
Algebra and Intermediate Algebra and the impact of student success at a
community college. A literature review for accessibility and open captioning as it
pertains to online course has been difficult to accomplish as there have not been
many empirical studies completed on the subject of open captioning in online
courses and specifically videos in online developmental Math courses.
A review of literature for this dissertation was very challenging as there
was limited literature that directly related to captioning in videos. Other areas in
literature that pointed to the need of captioning in videos in online courses as well
as accessibility aided a review of literature. The future of online education and
trends, accessibility to online courses, learner types, and videos in education as
well as captioning in videos were part of the research needed for a literature
review.
Online Education
The Online Consortium (formerly known as The Sloan Consortium) has
been studying the future of online education since 2002. A yearly report has
been published based on data collected and for 2013 a sample that contained
4,726 institutions; a total of 2,831 responses (Allen & Seaman, 2014) was
analyzed. In 2013, a report called Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in
the United States was published. Researchers Jeff Seaman and I.E. Allen asked

27. 16
the question as to what administration saw as the future of online education.
Allen and Seaman (2014) stated
In 2011 and again in 2013, academic leaders were queried on what they
considered the most likely future directions for online education. The
respondents were presented with a series of possibilities, and asked to
rate how likely they considered a particular outcome. The first scenario
posed to the respondents was the likelihood of continued growth in online
enrollments. The most recent data at the time of the survey was that
approximately one-third of all higher education students were taking at
least one online course. A majority of respondents reported that they
expected online courses to become considerably less expensive than
face-to-face courses, that online instruction would be far more different
from face-to-face instruction, and that online courses would make
substantial use of student directed, self-paced components. (p. 25)
One area that was also discussed was the quality of online education.
While one third of those polled for this survey stated that the quality of online
education is not a concern, the exception to this was the issue of the perception
of the relative quality of online instruction. It is the least likely outcome in the
eyes of the chief academic officers, and the likelihood of it occurring is going
down, not improving (Allen & Seaman, 2014).
Online education in the United States has steadily grown since 2002.
Courses online are means for students who are busy working adults to pursue a
degree to better enhance their own personal lives as well as a better future
careers and livelihood. The significance of this report was shown by the number
of years it has tracked online education as well as the increase of enrollment,
quality of online education, student success, and education.

28. 17
Charting the Future for a Prosperous Minnesota (2013) is a report and
plan for the State of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges in Universities.
This report was a strategic framework and listed six key points.
1. Dramatically increase the success of all learners, especially those in
diverse populations traditionally underserved by higher education.
2. Develop a collaborative and coordinated academic planning process
that advances affordability, transferability, and access to our programs and
services across the state.
3. Certify student competencies and capabilities, expand pathways to
accelerate degree completion through credit for prior learning, and foster the
award of competency-based credit and degrees.
4. Expand the innovative use of technology to deliver high quality online
courses, strengthen classroom instruction and student services, and provide
more individualized learning and advising.
5. Work together under new models to be the preferred provider of
comprehensive workplace solutions through programs and services that build
employee skills and solve real-world problems for communities and businesses
across the state.
6. Redesign our financial and administrative models to reward
collaboration, drive efficiencies, and strengthen our ability to provide access to an
extraordinary education for all Minnesotans.
Strategies and trends were reviewed and recommended. Each key point
was supported with data and focused on the success of students. There was a

29. 18
significant increase in numbers of adult learners since 2007 and specifically there
were 39% of all students over the age of 24 in 2012 (Charting the Future, 2013).
This increase meant flexibility in programs as well as the delivery of programs to
students including distance and online education.
Point 4 specifically addressed online learning and delivery. This point
stated “Expand the innovative use of technology to deliver high quality online
courses, strengthen classroom instruction and student services, and provide
more individualized learning and advising” (Charting the Future, 2013, p. 8). The
strategy recommended was to “Enhance student educational experiences by
infusing emerging technologies into courses and student support services and by
developing an integrated, collaborative approach to support professional
development of faculty and investment in instructional design” (Charting the
Future, 2013, p.14). Investment in instructional design was critical in enhancing
a better online course delivery. In 2012, there was 22 % of full-time equivalency
students enrolled in online and blended courses. MnSCU offered 377 completely
online degree programs and 14,771 online courses in FY2012. In FY 2008, there
were 65,979 students enrolled in online courses. In FY 2012, there were
107,158 students enrolled in courses (Charting the Future, 2013, p. 14). These
numbers indicated that there was still a high demand for online education with
MnSCU.

30. 19
Figure 1. More students are enrolling in online courses (From: Charting the
Future, by the State of Minnesota, 2013. No permission needed.)
Learner Types
Under cognitive style of learning, there are three types of learners. These
learning types are visual, audio, and kinesthetic. This is also referred to as VAK
learning styles (Clark 2008; Tomlinson 1999). Pham (2011) explained
Visual learners learn best through written language, pictures, charts,
diagrams, videos, and other demonstrations. They have good
visualization skills, remember what has been written down, and pay
greater attention to other people’s body language. Auditory learners
prefer instruction and information to be presented verbally. They enjoy
making contacts through verbal communications and participating in oral
discussions. Kinesthetic learners, unlike the other two groups, greatly
benefit from hands-on activities and work best when being engaged in role
plays, scenario acts, lab experiments, or other movement activities.
Kinesthetic learning is appropriate for those who want to become
surgeons, athletes, actors/ actresses, and architects. (p. 14)
According to Sarasin (1999) VAK learning styles referred to human
observations channels: visual, hearing and feeling. It suggested visual learners
can learn effectively when they see the materials; auditory learners like to hear
the material; and kinesthetic learns do best when doing an activity.

31. 20
Because of different learning types, it is an instructional design strategy to
create courses online that address the need for differentiated instruction.
Differentiated instruction focuses on the integration of designing courses that
gives students multiple options of processing information. Implementing
curriculum that addressed all learning types including visual, audio, and
kinesthetic is a form of differentiated instruction. It is necessary to employ a
multitude of teaching methods and activities to maximize academic success
based on student readiness (Pham, 2011). Differentiated instruction is a
pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for students of differing readiness
levels, interests, and modes of learning within the same classroom (Tomlinson et
al., 2003, p. 41). For developmental Math students, this meant providing ample
opportunity to start learning where they were the most comfortable and giving
them multiple means of working on a Math problem to learning the subject matter
of Algebra. As Stradling and Saunders (1993) stated, differentiated instruction is
“the process of matching learning targets, tasks, activities, resources, and
learning support to individual learners' needs, styles, and rates of learning” (p.
129).
Accessibility
In education, accessibility is viewed in terms of a student’s ability to
understand, interpret, and respond to educational materials, whether they are
instructional activities, textbooks, or assessments of knowledge (Ketterlin-Geller
& Tindal, 2007). Accessibility in online courses can be challenging for students
who have learning disabilities, whether they are acknowledged or invisible

32. 21
disabilities as well as other issues with learning such as English as a Second
Language (ESL). After spending hours doing research on accessibility as a
whole at a community college, it came to light that many students who have
learning disabilities or needed accommodations to help learn do not self-report.
There are five major types of student disabilities: cognitive impairment, social or
emotional disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, and physical
disability. There are also many students who have hidden or invisible disabilities
(2014 Road Map, 2013).
One very distinct way to provide accessibility to students is using open
captions in videos that are accessible online for learning. Open captioning was
begun officially in 1980 by the National Captioning Institute. The enactment of a
number of congressional acts, including the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of
1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Telecommunications Act of
1996 have helped increase the availability in closed-captioning in the United
States (Kikuchi, 1997).
ADA Impacts Online Video Accessibility
The American Disabilities Act of 1990 was signed into law in 1990. There
are five sections that are covered under ADA. These are
• Title I: employment
• Title II: public entities
• Title III: public accommodations
• Title IV: telecommunications
• Title V: miscellaneous provisions

33. 22
Captioning and online videos are closely connected to Title II, which is
public entities, and Title III, which is a public accommodation. Title II forbids
disability discrimination by all public entitles including schools regardless if they
receive federal funding or not. Title III forbids discrimination against an individual
based on disability with regards to the full and equal enjoyment of goods. ADA
does not specifically address online video accessibility. The Department of
Justice looked at accessibility in videos for social media and a recommendation
stating
Being unable to access websites puts individuals at a great disadvantage
in today's society, which is driven by a global marketplace and
unprecedented access to information. On the economic front, electronic
commerce, or "e-commerce," often offers consumers a wider selection
and lower prices than traditional "brick-and-mortar" storefronts, with the
added convenience of not having to leave one's home to obtain goods and
services. Beyond goods and services, information available on the
Internet has become a gateway to education. Schools at all levels are
increasingly offering programs and classroom instruction through
websites. Many colleges and universities offer degree programs online;
some universities exist exclusively on the Internet. The Internet also is
changing the way individuals socialize and seek entertainment. Social
networks and other online meeting places provide a unique way for
individuals to meet and fraternize. These networks allow individuals to
meet others with similar interests and connect with friends, business
colleagues, elected officials, and businesses” (www.reginfo.gov).
Along with this statement came a recommendation that all social media sites that
show videos must have the ability to display captioning.
Videos in Education
Flipped classrooms use technology and videos in education extensively.
Flipped classrooms were defined as doing the lectures outside of class and the
homework or assignments during class time. So in essence, the class time is

34. 23
“flipped”. This concept was started in 2007 by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron
Sams who used software technology to record PowerPoint presentations and
shared them with students who missed classes.
According to Bergmann and Sams (2012),
When you walk into our classrooms, you will see students engaged in a
variety of activities using different digital devices. Students are working on
our (obsolete) class computers, they are using their Ipods, they are
working together, they are experimenting, and they are interacting with
their teacher. We encourage our students to bring in their own electronic
equipment because, frankly, it is better than our school's antiquated
technology. (p. 21)
With this model of teaching came the inception of using video lectures
were students would watch before attending class. Many instructors struggled
with making videos. Keene (2013) stated “Videos do not always need to be
produced by the instructor. Many teachers use videos made by other teachers or
even students as part of the online component to their classroom” (p. 64). There
were many free videos available through Open Education Resources (OERs) to
enhance student learning. The idea of using an OER for teaching concrete
subjects such as Mathematics, Sciences which were based on facts versus
abstract concepts took off with the model of flipped classrooms.
Keene (2013) continued to state
As technology grows, distance education is taking on new roles in schools
and is moving forward to support best practices. From virtual schools,
online classes, blended learning and now to flipped learning, distance
education remains prevalent in schools today. How a school or district
chooses to go about adopting online classes depends on the needs of the
school, teachers, parents, and students. If the school wants to remain
current, differentiate instruction, support best practices, and increase
student achievement, blended learning in the form of a flipped model may
be a good option. (p. 69)

35. 24
The State of Video in Education 2014: A Report
In 2014, Kaltura published a report on the state of video in education. The
report was based on a sample size of 500 from K-12 as well as higher education.
The participants of the survey were faculty, instructional designers,
administrators and IT professionals. According to Tsur (2014) there are currently
1/3 of US students already taking at least one class online, and a full 1/6 learning
completely remotely, it’s not surprising to see respondents firmly agree on the
major role of video in education, and that students in the digital era expect video
to be included in their curriculum. They also feel that two important video-based
trends: distant & online learning and flipping the classroom will not only increase
in use, but are also likely to become the standard. The survey also defined that
video is strongly perceived to have positive impact on all student oriented goals,
first among these is ‘Increasing satisfaction of students from their learning
experience’, with almost 89% of all respondents believing video would have a
positive impact, 27% of those are sure of this (2014, A State of Video in
Education). There was no direct link between viewing videos and accessibility
listed in this report. The survey also identified that 81% agree that ‘Online
learning will become more and more accepted and account for a large number of
degrees’ and About 88% agree that ‘Video improves the educational experience
and will be a major part of education in the future’.
There is limited information found in the form of literature for review and
the topic of open captioning in online developmental Math courses. Taylor
(2005) stated “teachers must recognized the problems faced by beginning

36. 25
learners in using captioned video, while at the same time realize it’s obvious
benefits for providing comprehensible input, and helping learners to process the
target language”. Anderson et al. (2009) stated
Further research exploring modifications to standard captions is needed to
provide developers with evidence-based guidelines on how these options
can be used to enhance meaningful learning and improve academic
achievement. Making video captions more interactive and more
educationally relevant also could promote a more active approach to the
use of educational videos in general, where the content actually would be
studied, not just watched passively. (p. 3)
There is also a need to define a process and research in for implementing
open captioned videos in online courses that require viewing videos. Further
definitions as to the process as it pertains to action research and implementing
open captioned videos can be shared with other community colleges as well as
companies providing open captioning services to community colleges.
Open captioning in media, specifically for videos used for student learning,
is a new area within higher education. It is a topic that has not been widely
researched and data is not current. Snell (2012) stated “There is an ever present
gap that defines closed captioning studies thus far, and this gap is defined by the
emphasis on understanding and measuring denotative meaning making behavior
while largely ignoring connotative meaning making behavior that is necessarily
an equal participant in a user’s viewing experience” (p. ii). Snell’s study found no
difference between deaf and hearing impaired students use of closed captioning,
however, there were important differences in the emotional reactions to closed
captioning. This study introduced media reconciliation theory as it pertains to

37. 26
viewing of open captioned videos. It also points to the need for more research
and understanding of how to improve on current captioning technologies.
Use of Lecture Capture in Higher Education
Lecture caption is described as “multi-media capturing of live lectures
before an audience of students in higher education” (Newton et al, 2014). It also
can be described as providing a digital video format using digital technology to
capture elements of a live lecture. Screencasting is capturing the instructor’s
speech while recording or capturing what is on the screen. Lectures are a
continuous delivery of information and many students do not have the ability to
gather all information and continue to listen to a lecture. Lecture capture gave
students the means to go back and re-listen to a lecture as well as take notes
during a lecture. It was important to acknowledge the use of captioning in lecture
capture to accommodate those students who needed another means for viewing
lecture capture.
According to Pan et al. (2012)
streaming videos for teaching and learning are usually captured live in
traditional classroom settings where many common classroom events
occur, including socialization at the start of class, task management and
class announcements for upcoming sessions, content reviews of previous
sections, re-visitations of previous assignments and activities, testing and
examinations, small group review tasks, and other pedagogical activities
that are difficult to capture as video. Making sense of all these events is
not easy for many viewers. (p. 300)
Newton et al. (2014) stated “our most commonly encountered pedagogical
challenge related to the issue of ‘teaching to the technology’, rather than to the
class, meaning that we sometimes prioritize a good video above the experience

38. 27
of student in a class” (p. 33). In other terms, instructors spent too much time
lecturing for a video that seemed more professional and not enough time
answering student’s questions. A suggestion was to edit a video after recording
and posting the video in an LMS which was more user friendly.
Captioning and transcribing videos in compliance with disability laws
required that all materials distributed in a course be equally accessible to all
students. YouTube had been used by many institutions in higher education
because of the free cost and the ability to caption. One downside of YouTube
captioning was the captioning tended not to be as accurate as one hoped and
there was substantial amount of time used in correcting the transcript. One
upside to YouTube was a traditional student’s familiarity with video sharing as it
had been widely used in the past.
Making Effective Video Tutorials
Gawlick (2009) stated “There is a gap in the research concerning the
impact of written and video help tutorials in online assessments on student
achievement in traditional courses” (p. 25). The focus of this dissertation was
learning styles and the impact of making effective video tutorials for students
taking online Math assessments. Gawlick (2009) further stated
Our second major finding was the high use of written help tutorials. After
missing a problem, students selected written help tutorials more often than
video help tutorials to10% identify mistakes, and understand how to solve
the particular problem. In all cases at least 10% of students looked at the
help and in one case there were nearly twice as many clicks on the help
link as there were students. In interviews students commented favorably
on the help system. However, the relative value of written and video helps
was unclear. By comparing mean scores between students from a
previous semester who did not have access to video help tutorials, it could
not be determined if students performed better with the videos. The

39. 28
number of students who viewed video help tutorials was considerably less
than the number of students who used written help tutorials. However, the
percentages of students whose scores improved after using video help
tutorials were greater than those who used the written help tutorials.
Video help tutorials were beneficial for some students, but not all.
Although the number of students who benefited from the video help
tutorials may be small, any increase in student achievement is desired
from both students and educators (p. 110).
Need for Open Captioned Videos to Enhance Learning
There are few studies available as to how open captioning and the
learning of a foreign language can enhance student learning. Mathematicians
often times compare the study of Math to the study of a foreign language.
Markham (1989) achieved significant results for captions in beginning student of
English as a second language (ESL); however, rather small cell sizes, mostly in
the low teens, warrant replication. Taylor (2005) stated “Markham’s 1989 study
appears to stand alone as empirical evidence of captions improving the
comprehension of beginning students” (p. 425). Taylor (2005) based a study of
students viewing Spanish lessons in a videos format with closed captioning and
came to the conclusion that students can be distracted by using all three
channels of learning – auditory, visual, and contextual – at once. Taylor’s study
also contradicted Markham’s results but Taylor (2005) stated “the differences in
the results of the two studies may lie in the questions themselves. Markham’s
questions were never published so it is impossible to tell whether the distracters
were written so as to minimize this possibility” (p. 426).

40. 29
Universal Design and Open Captioning
Upon researching for literature that connects Universal Design and open
captioning, it was discovered that little was to be found and current. Universal
Design for Learning (UDL) refers to the idea of creating products and
environments whose features are as usable as possible to the widest variety of
people as possible, regardless of their age, ability, or status (Roadmap to Web
Accessibility, 2013). Guptill (2011) claimed “The concept of Universal Design
demands a holistic, bottom-up instructional design model for online course
development that integrates technology, accessibility, recent instructional and
learning theories, and a participatory postmodern worldview” (p. 3). The concept
of integrating technology and accessibility using open or closed captioning that it
universal in design contributes to better learning for students. If a proactive
approach is taken toward designing courses for accessibility using UDL
principles, more doors can open for students looking to take advantage of the
growth in distance learning. If courses are not created using UDL, they create
“new barriers to equal participation in academics and careers (Burgstahler, 2010,
p.7). Poore-Pariseau (2011) stated “Moving forward, all postsecondary
institutions must address this growing need of accessibility for economic, ethical
as well as legal reasons and can do so by implementing regular faculty training
about the principles of universal design for learning” (p.105). Poore-Pariseau
(2011) further stated “The quantitative data addressing this question did not
support a statistically significant correlation between knowledge of the principles

41. 30
of UDL and the importance placed on designing accessible courses. Despite this
result, the qualitative evidence presented did support the hypothesis” (p. 98).
The Essential Higher Ed Closed Captioning Guide
In 2012, Kevin Erler of Automatic Sync Technologies authored an article
based on closed captioning in higher education. This guide was one of the most
recent dated articles found for a Literature Review. Dr. Erler stated “Today
higher education institutions are faced with the extraordinary challenge of
delivering content and information across an ever-expanding number of channels
to an increasingly diverse student body that demands instant and ubiquitous
access to their content and learning materials” (Erler, 2012, p. 4). It was also
noted that when students were given instructional video materials with captions,
they were found to be more engaged and responsive to questions, were better
able to relate the information to their everyday lives, and demonstrated an
improvement of one full grade point versus those students who were not exposed
to captions (Collins, 2007).
Sustainable Captioning in California
Distance education comprises the fastest growing delivery mode in
California community College In order to provide access to all students and to
comply with federal and state law, some components of distance education
classes may need to provide captioning or transcriptions. The State of California
has a Distance Education Captioning and Transcription grant (DECT) which
provides California community colleges with funding for live and asynchronous
captioning and transcription as a means of enhancing the access of all students

42. 31
to distance education courses. DECT provided California community colleges
with funding for live and asynchronous captioning and transcription
(www.canyons.edu). College of the Canyons stated
Funding has been authorized by the Chancellor's Office to aid California
Community Colleges in improving their capacity to serve disabled student
populations and, in some instances, the general public, by ensuring the
accessibility of aural information. Services will be provided to colleges
through a process whereby the grantee contracts with outside captioning
vendors to provide assistance to any community college that elects to use
these vendors as well as establish policies and procedures to reimburse
colleges that contract these services directly with a captioning vendor not
under contract. (www.canyons.edu)
During fiscal year 2000-01, the Board of Governors (BOG) supported a
Disabled Students Program and Services (DSP&S) Budget Change Proposal
(BCP) to secure resources to address system wide deficiencies cited by the U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requiring that the
California Community College System afford students with disabilities equal and
effective access to electronic information. The DSP&S program provides support
services, specialized instruction, and educational accommodations to students
with disabilities so that they can participate as fully and benefit as equitably from
the college experience as their non-disabled peers (www.canyons.edu). This
sustainable model has partnered with vendors. Instructors can submit recorded
videos for transcribing and captioning to a vendor and then the State of California
pays for the cost. Data was tracked by submitting a short survey of number of
students enrolled at the beginning of a term and at the end of a term, as well as
student success rates and retention. This will also show California community

43. 32
colleges if this sustainable grant was a success but the data received from
surveys.
Cost of Video Done Professionally Versus by Student Workers
Automatic Sync Technologies is a company that does professional
captioning and transcribing. Erler (2014) stated
Some campuses have experimented with using students to caption lecture
capture and other materials; however, the quality of transcriptions and
availability of students have proven this approach to be largely ineffective.
Les Balsiger, Director of the Center for Learning Technologies for Laramie
County Community College, explained, “Using students for transcription
and captioning of video is not a good approach. It’s nearly impossible to
train them to do it accurately and efficiently, and turnover is too high. It’s
better to pay trained professionals, get it done quickly, and get it right the
first time.” in addition, many campuses don’t initially realize all of the costs
involved in “in-sourcing” closed captioning. At a minimum, the costs
include management and support staff, equipment, space, overhead
costs, and training and equipment costs; this all in addition to the cost of
labor for transcription and captioning (p.8).
The cost of employing a student worker can be more expensive and less
efficient than having a professional transcriber. Student workers usually take 8-
10 hours to caption a one hour video. They often can only work 10-12 hours a
week as it usually is part of a Financial Aid package. The turnaround time for a
professional transcriber can be 3 days or less. If faculty are transcribing their
own videos, then again, it would not be as cost effective to pay them as there
would be a similar time for transcribing videos as a student worker. Learning
technology to transcribe videos for faculty can be daunting as well as one that
might not promote accessibility within videos for student instruction.

44. 33
Conclusion of Literature Review
While there were not many articles specifically focusing on videos used in
online courses that were captioned, there were many recent articles that have
been published within the past 5 years discussing issues that related to online
education, accessibility and using lecture capture in courses for student success.
As distance education and the adult learner population grow, accessibility to
courses as well as a means to get a college degree are imperative to student
success.

45. 34
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The methodology for this action research project was to collect
quantitative data and analyze the correlation between the availability of open
captioned videos and student success. Quantitative data was provided by the
Office of Institutional Research at Inver Hills Community College for MATH0840
and MATH0940 from the academic year 2012-2013 and again from the academic
year 2013-2014. Post archival data was coded for privacy and grades were
analyzed. Success was defined as passing the course with an A, B, C or P. A
major change to the course was the addition of open captioning of required
viewing of videos in the academic year 2013-2014.
Action research is a systematic approach to analyzing data and making
recommendations. It is often cyclical. This research project focused on action
research and made recommendations that were cyclical. Stringer (2007) stated
“unlike traditional experimental/scientific research that looks for generalizable
explanations that might be applied to all contexts, action research focuses on
specific situations and localized solutions” (p. 3).
Selection of Subjects
The subjects for this action research study were students who were enrolled
in MATH0840 and MATH0940 at Inver Hills Community College. Post archival
data was collected and coded by the Office of Institutional Research. There were
no names attached to the grades that were analyzed. It was a blanket approach
without the researcher’s knowledge of student’s names or history of students.

46. 35
The sample size was 219 students who had enrolled in the courses. Part of this
project was to analyze the implementation and then look to see if there was an
impact on student success because of the implementation of open captioning in
viewing of required videos for this course.
Description of Location
Blind data was obtained from ISRS which was the database in which students
grades are officially housed. ISRS is an acronym for Integrated Statewide
Record System and is used by MnSCU. Other data was obtained from D2L.
D2L is the learning management system used by IHCC. Data was downloaded
statistically showing how many students clicked on videos and the average
length of viewing per video. This data was obtained from the Director of
Academic Technology at IHCC.
Access Permissions
Access permissions were needed for this action research project. Access
permission in the form of IRB certification at IHCC is provided in Appendix I. The
IRB at IHCC decided if access permission is needed from students. Because
data was post archival blind data provided by the Office of Institutional Research,
these permissions were waived Following IHCC IRB certification, Argosy
University IRB certification was requested and obtained.
Description of Participants
Participants in this study were the instructor who created the videos for the
Introduction to Algebra and Intermediate Algebra as well as 219 students in the
online courses. These courses were MATH0840 (Introduction to Algebra) and

47. 36
MATH0940 (Intermediate Algebra). Students were also participants in this study
and were de-identified by the Office of Institutional Research before providing
data for this dissertation. Non-identifying characteristics were analyzed including
gender, age, race and any other information that was public knowledge.
Data Collection Method
Quantitative data was extracted from ISRS which is the database on
campus that holds all student information including grades. Post archival data
collected was grades of students who took MATH0840 and MATH0940 online in
the academic year 2012-2013 and then again in the academic year 2013-2014.
Reports were mined by the Director of the Office of Institutional Research and
coded to protect the privacy of students in the course. All the information was
provided in MS Excel workbooks and was de-identified. Data was also collected
from D2L and again the data was de-identified. Videos were embedded in
content for the courses within D2L. The D2L Administrator on campus extracted
quantitative data on how many times a student clicked on a video within a course
for viewing. This data was then compared to grades that were associated with
the videos. An example would be how long students viewed a video for a
module and then the grades associated with the learning assessment of that
module.
Instrument and Pilot Study
Creswell (2009) defined threat to validity as those items that threaten the
ability of the researcher to find relationships and inferences about the study
population and thus create incorrect assumptions or beliefs about the study

48. 37
population. For this action research study, the threat was the potential that there
might be no connection between students watching open captioned videos and
success in understanding and passing the course. Stringer (2007) stated
The basis for rigor in traditional experimental research is founded in
commonly established routines for establishing the reliability and validity of
the research, but action research, being essentially qualitative, uses a
different set of criteria. Rigor in action research is based on checks to
ensure that the outcomes of research are trustworthy-that they do not
merely reflect the particular perspectives, biases or worldview of the
researcher and that they are not based solely on superficial and analyses
of the issues investigated. (p. 58)
For this pilot project, the credibility and conformability came from the means in
which data was collected. Transferability of data collected is a means in which
other community colleges will use the data to promote accessibility in all courses
throughout a college system. The standardized assessment for passing the
course was the same test used for both academic years which defined whether a
student successfully passed MATH0840 and MATH0940.
Planned Data Analysis
The planned data analysis for this action research project was a
quantitative study comparing grades of students from one academic year to the
next as well as how many times a student viewed a video. Was there a
significant correlation between the times a student viewed a video and the grade
received in the course? Were there better grades between students who
watched videos that were open captioned and videos that were not? What types
of students were taking developmental Math courses and can this information

49. 38
bring forth information that could help with student success as well as student
enrollment?

50. 39
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS
There were three areas of results analyzed for this study. The first area
was to define the type of students who were taking MATH 0840 and MATH 0940.
The second area was how often students watched videos and comparing them
from before captioning and after captioning. The third areas were assessments
and grades linked to videos before captioning and after captioning.
Demographic of Students in Study
De-identified data was analyzed observing the number of students, post-
traditional versus traditional students, male or female, ethnicity, and Pell Grant
status.

51. 40
Table 1
Overall Data
MATH840
2013
MATH940
2013
MATH840
2014
MATH940
2014 Totals
Enroll Total 58 30 75 56 219
Withdrew 8 4 20 10 42
Completed 50 26 55 46 177
Success 35 23 36 37 131
Failed 14 3 19 9 46
Male 16 7 29 23 75
Female 42 23 46 33 144
White 47 24 60 49 180
Other 11 6 15 7 39
Post Traditional 40 25 31 35 131
Traditional 18 5 44 21 88
FA-Yes 26 17 37 31 111
FA-No 15 4 27 14 60
FA-Unknown 17 9 11 11 48
Surprisingly, the results showed that out of 219 students, predominantly
the students who took developmental Math courses were post-traditional white
females who qualified for Pell Grants. This data showed that there was a
population of students who were predominately lacking in Math skills upon
entering community college. The population of students at IHCC per Fast Facts
provided by the college were 29% of color and 59% low income (2014,
www.inverhills.edu).

52. 41
Student Who Were Successful in MATH0840 and MATH0940
There were 131 students who successfully completed the courses. Out of
131 students, 43 were males and 88 were females. There were 40 traditional
students and 91 post-traditional students. A post-traditional student was defined
as an adult student over the age of 25 at the start of college. A traditional
student was defined as an adult student between the age of 18 and 24 years old.
Figure 2. Student Gender and Age Successful
The number of students who were Pell Grant elegible were 61. The
number of students who were not Pell Grant elegible were 36. There were 34
students who had a Pell Grant elegiblity status as unknown. Pell Grant elebility
was defined as a student who had applied for a FAFSA.

53. 42
Figure 3. Pell Grant Elegibility
The student ethnicity of successful students was 116 white and 15
minority students. Inver Hills Community College uses the term White versus
Caucasian.
Figure 4. Student Ethnicity

54. 43
Students Who Failed Overall in MATH0840 and MATH0940
Figure 5. Student Gender and Age Failed Students
There were 26 students who were Pell Grant elegible who failed
MATH0840 and MATH0940. There were 7 students who were not Pell Grant
elegible who failed MATH0840 and MATH940. There were 11 students who
failed MATH0840 and MATH0940 who had unknown Pell Grant elegiblity. Pell
Grant elebility was defined as a student who has applied for a FAFSA.

55. 44
Figure 6. Pell Grant Elegibility Students Failed
The student ethnicity of failed students was 31 white students and 13
minority students.
Figure 7. Student Ethnicity of Students Failed MATH0840 and MATH0940
Time Spent Watching Videos
Data was extracted from the courses on how many views and long videos
were watched during a course. This data was looked at for the course as a

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whole during two academic calendar years and then further defined as the video
itself, and viewing between courses. An example of this was looking at Linear
Equations before and after captioning. What time length was the video watched
before captioning and after captioning.
The videos that were captioned and used for MATH0840 where
• Adding and Subtracting Real Numbers Video
• Factoring Video
• Fractions Video
• Functions Video
• Graphing Lines Video
• Linear Functions Video
• Multiplying and Dividing Real Numbers Video
• Order of Operations Video
• Polynomials - Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide Video
• Properties of Real Numbers Video
• Simplifying Expressions Video
• Slope Video
• Solving Equations by Factoring Video
• Solving Formulas for a Specified Variable Video
• Solving Linear Equations Video
• Solving Linear Inequalities Video
• Solving Systems of Equations Video
• Solving Word Problems Using Linear Equations - Part 1 Video
• Solving Word Problems Using Linear Equations - Part 2 Video
• Synthetic Division and the Remainder Theorem Video
• The Real Number System Video
• Translating Words into Expressions and Equations Video
• Writing Equations of Lines Video

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The videos captioned and used for MATH0940 were
• Absolute Value Equations Video
• Absolute Value Inequalities Video
• Adding and Subtracting Radicals Video
• Applications of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions Video
• Circles Video
• Complex Numbers Video
• Composition of Functions Video
• Compound Inequalities Video
• Difference Quotients Video
• Evaluating Logs and Properties of Logs Video
• Factoring Video
• Functions Video
• Graphing Exponential and Logarithmic Functions Video
• Graphing Linear Inequalities and System of Inequalities Video
• Graphing Lines Video
• Inverse Functions Video
• Linear Functions Video
• Nonlinear Inequalities Video
• Piecewise Defined Functions Video
• Quadratic Functions and Graphs Video
• Rational Exponents Video
• Rational Expressions - Add, Subtract, Complex Fractions Video
• Rational Expressions - Domain, Simplify, Multiply, Divide Video
• Rationalizing Denominators and More Simplifying Radicals Video
• Simplifying, Multiplying and Dividing Radicals Video
• Slope Video
• Solving Equations and Word Problems Containing Rational
Expressions Video
• Solving Exponential and Logarithmic Equations Video
• Solving Non Linear Equations Video
• Solving Quadratic Equations Video
• Solving Radical Equations Video
• Transformations of Functions and Graphing Video
• Variation Video
• Writing Equations of Lines Video
Only six videos were used in both MATH0840 and MATH0940. Each video
was saved to Kaltura Media Space, captioned by Automatic Sync and then
put back into D2L for courses MATH0840 and MATH0940.

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Videos Viewed for MATH0840 Before and After Captioning
Videos for viewing for MATH0840 before captioning were recorded in
two formats. One format was flash for Mac users and the other format was
wmv for PC users. The data collected showed that there were more PC
users than Mac users viewing the videos. The sample size of users before
captioning in MATH0840 was 49 students. The average number of users
that clicked on a video was 10.73 users. The total number of clicks or
viewing of videos before captioning was 1,074 clicks or views. The total
number of hours viewed of videos before captioning was 67 hours 13
minutes and 32 seconds.
The sample size of users after captioning in MATH0840 was 28
students. The number of users that clicked on a video was 9.3 users. The
total number of clicks or viewing of videos after captioning was 402 clicks or
views. The total number of hours viewed of videos after captioning was 37
hours 29 minutes and 24 seconds.
Figure 8. Average users clicks before and after captioning.

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The average time spent viewing a video before captioning was 38 minutes
and 25 seconds. The average time spent viewing a video after captioning
was 30 minutes.
Figure 9. Total Average users time spend on videos
Videos Viewed for MATH0940 Before and After Captioning
Data for videos for MATH0940 before captioning was not available for
collection. The data was not collected because D2L did not have the
capability in Fall 2012 when the course was offered.
The sample size of users after captioning in MATH0940 was 46 students.
The average number of users that clicked on a video was 23.3 users. The
total number of clicks on videos was 1,246 clicks or views. The average time
spent viewing a video after captioning was 1 hour 12 minutes and 5 seconds.
The total time spent viewing videos was 83 hours and 8 seconds.

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Successful Grade Distribution
The grade distribution of the students who passed MATH0840 and
MATH0940 successfully was 45 students earned an A, 53 students earned a
B, 31 students earned a C, and two students chose to take a P which means
passiing the course. The grade percent for an A was 90-100%, for a B was
80-89%, for a C was 70-79% and P was a minimum of 70%.
Figure 10. Student Successful Grade Distribution Overall
Grade Distribution for MATH0840
The grade distribution for MATH0840 was significantly higher after video
captioning than before video captioning. Before captioning, 35% of the
students earned an A, 30% of the students earned a B and 35% of the
students earned a C. After captioning, 33% of students earned an A, 39% of
students earned a B and 28% students earned a C.

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Figure11. Grade Distribution for MATH 0840 Before Captioning
Figure 12. Grade Distribution for MATH0840 After Captioning
Grade Distribution for MATH0940
The grade distribution for MATH0940 was significantly higher after video
captioning than before video captioning. Before captioning, 35% of students
earned an A, 57% of students earned a B and 8% of students earned a C.

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After captioning, 36% ofstudents earned an A, 45% of students earned a B
and 19% of students earned a C.
Figure 13. Grade Distribution for MATH0940 Before Captioning.
Figure 14. Grade Distribution for MATH0940 After Captioning

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Failed Grade Distribution
The grade distribution of the students who failed MATH0840 and
MATH0940 was 11 students earned an D, and 33 students earned a NC or
No Credit. A traditional student was between the age of 18 and 24 years old.
Figure 15. Students Failed Grade Distribution
There were 44 students who failed and earned a D or NC for MATH0840 and
MATH0940. Out of 44 students, 27 were female and 14 were male. A post-
traditional student is defined as an adult student over the age of 25 at the
start of college. A traditional student is defined as an adult between the ages
of 18 and 24 years old.

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CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION
Two questions for this dissertation were addressed. The questions were:
• Is there a correlation between students viewing required videos for online
developmental Math courses that are open captioned and success in
passing an online developmental Math course? Success was defined as
passing the course. The hypothesis was there a correlation between open
captioning and success rates.
• Do open captioned videos available for viewing lead to success in passing
the course?
Implementation Process Observations and Discussions
The implementation of this project was defined and implemented in the
summer of 2013. After discussions with the CIO, Mark Peterson, and the
instructor, Carrie Naughton, the process was defined as listed:
• Carrie Naughton defined what videos were to be captioned and placed
them in Kaltura Media Space.
• Videos were tagged in Kaltura Media Space using Kaltura Media Console.
• After videos were tagged correctly, Caption Sync was able to identify the
videos virtually and imported them to their servers to assign to
transcribers.
• Once the videos were transcribed by Caption Sync, the videos were
placed back in to Kaltura Media Space by the vendor.
• Open captioned videos with transcripts were placed back into D2L by the
instructor, Carrie Naughton, before the course started.

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Observation
An observation and discovery during this process was the connection
between Kaltura Media Console and Caption Sync technologies was not working.
Caption Sync Technologies is a division on Automatic Sync Technologies were
interchangeable in discussions. There were three problems discovered. The
first problem was IHCC did not have a regular subscription to Kaltura. The
subscription was never changed from a trial account to a regular account when
MnSCU updated their media space system. The second problem was the
“Administrative Secret” and “Partner ID” had one extra space. Video processing
was being rejected. Caption Sync Help Desk, specifically Art Morgan, was highly
involved in finding out what was incorrect and making this work. Once this
started working, it went very quickly and flawlessly.
The purchase of prepaid transcribing and captioning services was one that
involved quite a bit of paperwork with MnSCU. A legal contract between MnSCU
and Caption Sync Technologies was written and approved by both parties
including legal counsel for MnSCU. A requisition was required as well a
purchase agreement. This process took almost 4 weeks from the approval of the
funds from the Executive Team at IHCC to the actual prepaid service agreement
with Caption Sync Technologies. Caption Sync Technologies provided a tracking
system where the administrator of a project can log in and see when a video was
snagged from Kaltura, the processing time and where it was in the queue.

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Figure 16. Prepaid Balance Example
An email was generated as to when Caption Sync Technologies started
the process and stating the success of a video as it uploaded from Kaltura.
These emails were the key to realizing that the process was not working and that
there was an error with Kaltura. An email was sent to the administrator stating
that the upload of the videos had been rejected and failed. This is where the
discovery of a misplaced spaced in the “Administrative Secret”. Again, an email
was generated when a video was complete and downloaded back into Kaltura
from Caption Sync Technologies.
The third problem discovered was the videos did not show up correctly in
D2L and was not adaptable to all browsers. The instructor decided to embed the
videos in HTML within D2L and MATH0840 and MATH0940 so videos could be
view correctly by students no matter what browser was used.
Discussion
This dissertation was a product of a discussion that was based on
recommendations from the IHCC Accessibility Task Force in May 2013. IHCC
Accessibility Task Force worked with The National Center on Disability and
Access Foundation (NCADE). NCADE was hosting a project called Gaining
Online Accessible Learning through a Self-Study (Project Goals). Project Goals

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is a website that is in use for a self-study of an organization by asking many
questions and creating recommendations based on the answers to specific
questions. This site was beneficial in realizing that IHCC had some work to do
campus wide as well as individual courses with accessibility. If there is any
question as to whether any website or course is not accessible, it is
recommended that Project Goals be used to analyze said situation.
Before implementing a process for captioning videos, it is also
recommended that the college look at the use of the videos and whether it is in a
subject that is factual versus conceptual. Introduction to Algebra and
Intermediate Algebra were subjects that are factual. The data for teaching these
courses is the same as well as the process for working a Math problem.
MATH0840 and MATH0940, the courses used for this research, were courses
that were factual and the videos were used over and over again. The courses
were online and were Quality Matters (QM) approved. Quality Matters (2013) or
QM is a faculty-centered, peer review process that is designed to certify the
quality of online and blended courses. QM is a leader in quality assurance for
online education and has received national recognition for its peer-based
approach and continuous improvement in online education and student learning.
The courses had also been taught successfully by the same instructor for
a few years with videos that were not captioned. This led to the realization that it
was fairly easy to compare the courses and video clicks before and after the
captioning.

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Finding the funding for caption for this project was not difficult as there
was yearend funding available. This project is one that had not been done
before nor researched so it was a viable means for funding especially since there
is such a large population at IHCC that takes MATH0840 and MATH0940 online.
One recommendation is to confirm that all products work correctly and that
a process is in place as well as a timeline. The discovery of Kaltura not working
as it was a trial account and the misplaced space in Caption Sync Technologies
(product of Automatic Sync) made a delay of approximately 2 weeks. The
process for this project started in late May and the videos needed to be into the
courses captioned by the new academic year which started on July 1, 2013. The
implementation of this process was like directing an orchestra but without a
score. In music, writing the score before conducting a piece made much more
sense after the fact. With implementing this process, it was written as it
happened. The process went smoothly after the issues were discovered and it is
recommended that it be done again especially for those videos that affect a
whole student body such as marketing materials or videos for orientation to a
LMS such as D2L.
Demographics of Students Observations and Discussions
De-identified data was analyzed observing the number of students, post-
traditional versus traditional students, male or female, ethnicity, and Pell Grant
status.

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Table 2
Overall Data
MATH840
2013
MATH940
2013
MATH840
2014
MATH940
2014 Totals
Enroll Total 58 30 75 56 219
Withdrew 8 4 20 10 42
Completed 50 26 55 46 177
Success 35 23 36 37 131
Failed 14 3 19 9 46
Male 16 7 29 23 75
Female 42 23 46 33 144
White 47 24 60 49 180
Other 11 6 15 7 39
Post Traditional 40 25 31 35 131
Traditional 18 5 44 21 88
FA-Yes 26 17 37 31 111
FA-No 15 4 27 14 60
FA-Unknown 17 9 11 11 48
Observation
Surprisingly, the results showed that out of 219 students, predominantly
the students who took developmental Math courses were post-traditional white
females who qualified for Pell Grants. This data showed that there was a
population of students who were predominately lacking in Math skills upon
entering community college. The population of students at IHCC per Fast Facts
provided by the college were 29% of color and 59% low income
(www.inverhills.edu). As an employee who worked on campus in a Learning
Center, it was observed that there was a large majority of students of color full-

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time equivalency who visited the Math Tutoring Center. There was also a large
population of military students (students who are in the military) as well as adult
learners. Adult learners were defined as over 24 years of age.
There were 131 students who successfully completed the courses for this
study. Out of 131 students, 43 were males and 88 were females. There were 40
traditional students and 91 post-traditional students.
Figure 17. Student Gender and Age Successful
The number of students who were Pell Grant elegible were 61. The
number of students who were not Pell Grant elegible were 36. There were 34
students who had a Pell Grant elegiblity status as unknown. Pell Grant elebility
was defined as a student who had applied for a FAFSA.

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Figure 18. Pell Grant Elegibility
The student ethnicity of successful students was 116 white and 15
minority students. Inver Hills Community College uses the term White versus
Caucasian.
Figure 19. Student Ethnicity

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Charting the Future (2013) stated
According to the state demographer, by 2035 Minnesota’s population will
be 25 percent non-white. Latino, black, and Asian populations will more
than double in the next 30 years. Of significant concern, Minnesota has
one of the largest opportunity gaps in the nation with 50 percent of
students of color and American Indian students not graduating high school
on time. Too many of those who do graduate on time are not ready for
college-level coursework. Our colleges and universities are making
modest progress to close the opportunity and completion gap, but there is
much more to do. Fully 38 percent of our students receive Pell grants; 23
percent are students of color or American Indian students. (p. 9).
Figure 20. 67 percent of the Minnesota’s population growth will be among
people of color (From: Charting the Future, by the State of Minnesota, 2013. No
permission needed.)
Another observation as stated by Charting the Future (2013) was
A second trend is a significant increase in the number of adult learners
and those attending our colleges and universities part-time. Fully 39
percent of our students are over the age of 24. One-half of our students
attend part-time – a seven-point increase during the past eight years. We
must provide greater flexibility in our programs and academic support
services to meet students’ needs and circumstances. (p. 10)

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Discussion
The observation of actual data matches what MnSCU has stated with
post-traditional students attending community colleges as per Figure 18. In
2010, there were 84% white students attending and the projected for 2030 was
77% white students attending community college. The surprise was that most of
the students were post-traditional women who were Pell Grant eligible. This
begs the question as to whether those students were dislocated homemakers or
dislocated workers. Is there a specific reason why post-traditional women need
to take developmental Math courses to get to College Algebra? Where was the
K-12 system at with teaching methods for Math from 1990 and going back? My
personal experience was I never took Math from 9th
grade until I went back to
college as a post-traditional student in 2002. This meant that in the late 1970’s,
Algebra was not required to graduate from high school nor was it a requirement
to get into college. I graduated high school with only high school Geometry and
enrolled in a community college within MnSCU in 1978 without any high school
Algebra. I was unsuccessful in 1978 but that was not because of Math but rather
the lack of interest and emotional support for earning a college degree. Where
was there a shift in educating high school students in Math?
When returning to community college in 2002, I was a post-traditional
white female who was required to take developmental Math courses, specifically
Introduction to Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. I was not Pell Grant eligible
but I can relate to the social stigma attached to taking a developmental Math

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course as a post-traditional white female returning to college. My own children
were excelling at higher Math levels than I was and they were in high school.
Is there any correlation between the location of IHCC and post-traditional
white females taking developmental Math courses? The top student residences
are from Inver Grove Heights, Eagan, St. Paul, Cottage Grove and Apple Valley.
All of these communities are within a 30 mile radius of IHCC.
These were just a few of the many points of discussion regarding the
reasoning behind the demographics for this action research project.
Time Spent Watching Videos Observations and Discussions
MATH840. The sample size of users before captioning in MATH0840 was
49 students. The average number of users that clicked on a video was 10.73
users. The total number of clicks or viewing of videos before captioning was
1,074 clicks or views. The total number of hours viewed of videos before
captioning was 67 hours 13 minutes and 32 seconds.
The sample size of users after captioning in MATH0840 was 28 students.
The number of users that clicked on a video was 9.3 users. The total number of
clicks or viewing of videos after captioning was 402 clicks or views. The total
number of hours viewed of videos after captioning was 37 hours 29 minutes and
24 seconds.

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Figure 21. Average users clicks before and after captioning.
The average time spent viewing a video before captioning was 38 minutes and
25 seconds. The average time spent viewing a video after captioning was 30
minutes.
Figure 22. Total Average users time spend on videos
Observation
The time spent viewing videos before captioning and after captioning was
significantly different. Research shows that students watch videos longer while
captioned as stated by Erler (2014) “a study conducted by Knopf found that

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videos with captions are viewed 38% longer than videos without” (p.4). The
observation with this study is the opposite. Videos were viewed significantly less
after captioning than before captioning. Significantly less is 402 clicks after
captioning versus 1,074 clicks before captioning for MATH0840. Significantly
less total number of hours viewed of videos before captioning was 67 hours 13
minutes and 32 seconds versus number of hours viewed of videos after
captioning was 37 hours 29 minutes and 24 seconds. The sample size of
students after captioning was 28 students and before captioning were 49
students. The difference of average time for students after and before captioning
was only 8 minutes. The average time spent viewing a video after captioning was
30 minutes. The average time spent viewing a video before captioning was 38
minutes and 25 seconds.
Discussion
There are a few points to bring to the forefront with videos before
captioning. The data used was extracted from D2L. The instructor had the
videos posted in two formats. One format was flash for Mac users and the other
format was wmv for PC users. The data collected showed that there were more
PC users than Mac users viewing the videos. Was there any significant
difference after captioning because the instructor embedded the videos in HTML
for viewing in D2L? That data is not available. The instructor for these courses
also has a YouTube Channel as well as an Instructor website that has the videos
posted. Students had three different ways to access the videos. This is a point