Survey of Law Student Awareness and Use of Captions

Abstract

This article replicates a prior study of student perceptions of captions in a specialized learning context to understand the extent to which captions are useful for students learning specialized vocabulary. It describes the results of a conceptual replication (Christensen et al., Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 2021) of a nationwide study by Linder (2016)  that surveyed undergraduate students regarding their use and perceptions of closed captions and transcripts. In Linder (2016). Student Uses and Perceptions of Closed Captions and Transcripts: Results from a national study. Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit.) study, a broad range of undergraduate student populations reported that they used closed captions and transcripts as a learning aid to help with accuracy, comprehension, retention, and engagement. This study surveys a smaller group of graduate students in legal education whose academic challenges include mastering a highly specific terminology. Experimental studies have provided evidence that closed captions can help students learn challenging new vocabulary in areas such as foreign language Winke et al. Language Learning & Technology, 14(1), 65–86 (2010) and science (Marino et al., Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 29:31–49, 2010). This article reports on student perceptions of the helpfulness of captions and transcripts, why they found them helpful or not, and how they used them to support their learning. Results indicate that provided captions and transcripts were accurate, students found them helpful with understanding instructors, concentrating, comprehending lectures, learning new vocabulary, and note-taking.

Appendices

Appendix A Survey Items

(Q1) I consent to taking part in this study.

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Survey.

Enter today's date:

(Q3) Are you 18 years old or over?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Survey.

You are ineligible to be a participant in this study.

If You are ineligible to be a … Is Displayed, Then Skip To End of Survey.

(Q4) How do you take courses at your law school?

• Only face-to-face (1)

• Primarily face-to-face with occasional online (4)

• Equally face-to-face and online (3)

• Primarily online with occasional face-to-face (2)

• Only online (5)

The following questions are about videos, which include recorded lectures, lessons, or other video materials. These videos might be made by your professors or they might be videos your professor includes in your course that are created by other people.

(Q6) Of the face-to-face and/or online courses that you have taken at your law school, have any of them included videos?

• Yes (1)

• No (5)

If No Is Selected, Then Skip What year are you?

(Q7) Of the face-to-face courses that you have taken at your law school, how many of them have included videos?

• All (1)

• Most (2)

• Many (3)

• Some (4)

• Just a few (5)

• None (6)

• I'm not sure (7)

(Q9) Of the online courses that you have taken at your law school, how many of them have included videos?

• All (1)

• Most (2)

• Many (3)

• Some (4)

• Just a few (5)

• None (6)

• I'm not sure (7)

(Q10) Have you sought out video content independently to supplement your knowledge?

• Yes

• No

(Q11) How helpful was it for your education to include videos?

• My courses did not include videos (6)

• Not at all (7)

• Slightly (2)

• Moderately (3)

• Very (4)

• Extremely (5)

Closed captions are blocks of text usually shown at the bottom of a video that mirror the spoken audio. Closed captions can be turned on or off. The following items ask about your use of closed captions with videos.

(Q13) When you watch a video, do you know how to tell if the video has closed captioning as a feature?

• Yes (1)

• Sometimes (2)

• No (5)

(Q14) When you watch a video, do you know how to turn on the closed captioning feature?

• Yes (1)

• Sometimes (2)

• No (3)

(Q15) Of the videos that you have used in your education, approximately how many of them gave you the option to see closed captions?

• All (1)

• Most (2)

• Many (3)

• Some (4)

• Just a few (5)

• None (6)

• I am unsure (7)

(Q16) Of the videos that you knew had closed captions, how often did you use them?

• Never (1)

• Seldom (2)

• Sometimes (3)

• Often (4)

• Always (5)

If Never Is Selected, Then Skip A transcript is a document…

(Q17) Why do you use closed captions? Check all that apply.

• English is my second language (1)

• I have difficulty with hearing (2)

• I watch videos in sound sensitive environments (e.g. a library) (3)

• Helps me focus (4)

• Helps me with difficult vocabulary (5)

• Helps overcome poor audio quality (6)

• My professor has an accent (7)

• Helps me retain the information (8)

• Other (please describe) (9)

(Q18) How helpful were the closed captions?

• Not at all (1)

• Slightly (2)

• Moderately (3)

• Very (4)

• Extremely (5)

If Not at all Is Selected, Then Skip To How much of a hindrance were the clos…

(Q19) Please describe why the closed captions were helpful.

(Q51) How much of a hindrance were the closed captions?

• Not at all (1)

• Slightly (2)

• Moderately (3)

• Very (4)

• Extremely (5)

If Not at all Is Selected, Then Skip To In general, describe your experiences…

(Q52) Please explain why the closed captions were a hindrance.

(Q20) In general, describe your experiences with closed captioning in an academic setting:

A transcript is a document that represents the entire spoken audio of a video. A transcript is a separate document that can be read or printed. The following items ask about your use of transcripts with videos.

(Q22) Of the video lessons that you have used in your education, approximately how many of them gave you the option to read or print a transcript of the video?

• All (1)

• Most (2)

• Many (3)

• Some (4)

• Just a few (5)

• None (6)

• I am unsure (7)

(Q23) Of the videos that you knew included the option to read or print a transcript of the video, how often did you use it?

• Never (1)

• Seldom (2)

• Sometimes (3)

• Often (4)

• Always (5)

(Q24) Why do you use transcripts? Check all that apply.

• English is my second language (1)

• I have difficulty with hearing (2)

• I watch videos in sound sensitive environments (e.g. the library) (3)

• Helps me focus (4)

• I use transcripts as study guides or reference materials (5)

• Helps with difficult vocabulary (6)

• Helps overcome poor audio quality (7)

• My professor has an accent (8)

• Helps me retain the information (9)

• Helps me find what I'm looking for (10)

• Other (please describe) (11)

(Q25) How helpful were the transcripts?

• Not at all (1)

• Slightly (2)

• Moderately (3)

• Very (4)

• Extremely (5)

If Not at all Is Selected, Then Skip To How much of a hindrance were the transcripts…

(Q26) Please describe why the transcripts were helpful.

(Q27) How much of a hindrance were the transcripts?

• Not at all (1)

• Slightly (2)

• Moderately (3)

• Very (4)

• Extremely (5)

If Not at all Is Selected, Then Skip To Are you more likely…

(Q28) Please explain why the transcripts were a hindrance.

(Q29) Are you more likely to watch a video if you know it has closed captions or a transcript?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q30) What year are you in law school?

• 1L (1)

• 2L (2)

• 3L (3)

• LLM (4)

• SJD

(Q31) With which gender do you identify?

• Male (1)

• Female (2)

• Trans male/Trans man (5)

• Trans female/Trans woman (6)

• Genderqueer/Gender non-conforming (7)

• Different Identity (please state) (3)

• Prefer not to identify (4)

(Q32) What is your age?

(Q33) With which race do you identify?

• American Indian or Alaska Native (1)

• Asian (2)

• Black or African American (3)

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (4)

• White (5)

• Two or More Races (6)

(Q34) Do you identify as Hispanic?

• Hispanic (1)

• Non-Hispanic (2)

(Q35) What is your overall GPA?

(Q36) Is English your first language?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q37) What was the highest school completed by your mother or parent 1?

• Middle school/Jr. high (1)

• High school (2)

• College or beyond (3)

• Other (4)

• Unknown (5)

(Q38) What was the highest school completed by your father or parent 2?

• Middle school/Jr. high (1)

• High school (2)

• College or beyond (3)

• Other (4)

• Unknown (5)

(Q39) Do you ever struggle with focusing or maintaining attention in class?

• Always (1)

• Often (2)

• Sometimes (3)

• Seldom (4)

• Never (5)

(Q40) Do you have difficulty with hearing?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q41) Do you have difficulty with vision?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q42) Do you have difficulty with understanding visual representations of content (such as graphs or charts)?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q43) Were you ever diagnosed as having a learning disability?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

(Q44) Do you have any other disabilities?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

If No Is Selected, Then Skip To Are you registered with Student Disability Services…

(Q45) What other disabilities do you have? (check all that apply).

• Chronic Medical (1)

• Sensory Disability (2)

• Physical Disability (3)

• Mental Health Disability (4)

• Learning Disability (5)

• Development Disability (6)

• Other (7)

(Q46) Are you registered with an Office of Disability Services at your institution?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

• I am unsure (3)

(Q47) Do you require academic accommodations?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

Appendix B List of Themes, Sub-Themes, and Codes

Accommodation (Theme)

• Hard of Hearing/Deaf (code): student specifically mentioned that they are hard of hearing or deaf

• Learning Disability (code): mention of ADHD or similar cognitive processing disorders

Environment (Theme)

• Avoid Disturbing Others (code): captions allow silent video playback to avoid disturbing others or allow students to listen to a lecture where volume is a problem

Hindrance (Theme)

• Distracting/Distraction (code): captions cause distraction, loss of concentration or attention

• Inaccurate (code): captions were unhelpful because of their inaccuracy

• Video Obstruction (code): closed captions hide part of the video or obstruct text displayed in the video

Learning Aid (Theme)

Comprehension (Sub-Theme)

• Lecture Comprehension (code): mentions understanding overall lecture or broader context

• Retention (code): aids in student retention of information

Focus (Sub-Theme)

• Concentration (code): mentions heightened ability to "focus" or keep attention on the lecture

• Follow Language (code): aids in "following language" or following what is being said

Note-Taking (Sub-Theme)

• Note-Taking (code): mentions "notes" or "notetaking"

Search (Sub-Theme)

• Video Navigation Aid (code): mentions play/pause/advance/review controls or caption and transcript search capabilities

Understanding Instructor (Sub-Theme)

• Difficulty Understanding Instructor (code): student mentioned that the captions help overcome difficulty understanding the professor’s speaking voice

• Understand Professor (code): student discusses a heightened ability to understand professor and/or topic because of the use of captions beyond making up for a deficiency with the audio

Vocabulary (Sub-Theme)

• Difficult Vocabulary (code): mentions help with understanding difficult vocabulary

• Language Confirmation (code): confirming that the student is correctly hearing or understanding the words the professor is using and/or aiding in student understanding of the pronunciation of words

• Legal Terminology (code): mentions benefit to understanding or recognizing specialized legal terms

• Vocabulary (code): mentions benefit to understanding vocabulary and/or learning new words

Video/Audio Quality (Theme)

• Video/Audio Quality (code): mentions low quality video or audio

Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

Fig. 1

Video Availability in Face-to-Face Compared to Online Courses

Fig. 2

Helpfulness of Videos

Fig. 3

Availability of Closed Captions versus Transcripts

Fig. 4

Comparing Student Use of Closed Captions and Transcripts

Fig. 5

Why Respondents Use Closed Captions

Fig. 6

Comparison of Qualitative Themes for Why Students Used Closed Captions and Transcripts

Fig. 7

Comparison of Qualitative Themes for Helpfulness of Closed Captions and Transcripts

Fig. 8

Helpfulness of Closed Captions & Transcripts Bar Chart