Video Captions Help Increase Comprehension

A recent study shows that video captions may actually improve comprehension.

Lead study author Robert Keith Collins, an assistant professor of American Indian studies, found that students' test scores and comprehension dramatically improved when captions were used while watching videos. The tool is also often utilized for students with learning disabilities, according to the authors.

Collins and colleagues worked to develop the idea that this could help provide better learning for some. During his first year in a two-year case study, these findings showed that videos without captions are more difficult in order to establish a baseline of student comprehension. Once a baseline has been established, according to the study, the captions can work to provide better improvements.

"Not only were students talking about how much having the captions helped them as they took notes, their test scores went up," Collins said, via a press release. "During the baseline year, there were a lot of Cs. In the second years, they went from Cs, Ds and Fs to As, Bs and Cs. It was really significant improvement."

According to the study authors, the improvements didn't just manifest in better grades-but they also showed better class participation the became livelier and more detailed as students recalled specific information shown in the videos.

"We're living in an age where our students are so distracted by technology that they sometimes forget where they should focus their attention when engaged with technology or media," he said. "Turning on captions seems to enable students to focus on specific information."

The study proved to be particularly unique as it explored Caption's impact broadly as opposed to other studies that examined their effect solely on students with learning disabilities.

The study has proved to be particularly important implications for the academic field.

More information regarding the study can be found via the American Indian Culture and Research Journal.