Electronic delivery of lectures in the university environment: An empirical comparison of three delivery styles Julia E. Stephenson, Clifford Brown, Darren K. Griffin * Department of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ, UK Received 15 February 2006; received in revised form 31 July 2006; accepted 1 August 2006 Abstract The purpose of this study was to consider the efficacy and popularity of ‘‘Virtual Lectures’’ (text-based, structured elec- tronic courseware with information presented in manageable ‘‘chunks’’, interaction and multimedia) and ‘‘e-Lectures’’ (on- screen synchrony of PowerPoint slides and recorded voice) as alternatives to traditional lectures. We considered how three modes of delivery compare when increasingly deeper forms of learning are assessed and also student reaction to electronic delivery. Fifty-eight students in three groups took three topics of a human genetics module, one in each delivery style. Results indicated no overall greater efficacy of either delivery style when all question types were taken into account but significantly different delivery-specific results depending on which level of Bloom’s taxonomy was assessed. That is, overall, questions assessing knowledge consistently achieved the highest marks followed by analysis, comprehension, evaluation and application. Students receiving traditional lectures scored significantly lower marks for comprehension questions. Stu- dents receiving Virtual Lectures scored high for knowledge, comprehension and application but significantly lower for analysis and evaluation questions. The e-Lectures scored high for knowledge questions and were the median for all ques- tion types except application. Questionnaire analysis revealed a preference for traditional lectures over computer-based but nevertheless an appreciation of the advantages offered by them. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Architectures for educational technology system; Computer-mediated communication; Evaluation of CAL systems; Human- computer interface; Teaching/learning strategies 1. Introduction The statement that ‘‘a lecture is a process in which information passes from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the student without passing through the minds of either’’ (attributed to RK Rathbun (Gilstrap & Martin, 1975)) is widely quoted in jest but nevertheless is reluctantly accepted as truism in many circles. Lec- tures have remained the popular mainstay of undergraduate teaching since universities were founded because of their efficiency (one person can teach a large or small numbers of students), because they are tutor-centred 0360-1315/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2006.08.007 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1227 823022; fax: +44 1227 763912. E-mail address: d.k.griffin@kent.ac.uk (D.K. Griffin). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Computers & Education 50 (2008) 640–651 www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu