Students ’ understanding and perceptions of the content of a lecture

In spite of advances in physics pedagogy, the lecture is by far the most widely used instructional format. We investigated students ’ understanding and perceptions of the content delivered during a physics lecture. Students participating in our study responded to a written conceptual survey on sound propagation. Next, they looked for answers to the survey questions in a videotaped lecture by a nationally known teacher. As they viewed the lecture, they indicated instances, if any, in which the survey questions were answered during the lecture. A group of experts (physics instructors) also participated in our study. We discuss students ’ and experts ’ responses to the survey questions