Re-creating lecture content as a podcast that breaks through the student “groan-zone”

Podcast series

Clients: Melbourne Business School, Faculty of Business and Economics, funded by a Learning and Teaching Initiatives (LTI) grant.

Identifying the challenge: Changing the mindset of the students

With an eye towards the future job-market, lecturers from the Faculty of Business and Economics recognised that Financial Technology (Fintech) is crucially important for their students to understand. Unfortunately, few students were interested in engaging with the subject. They couldn’t quite understand how this sector would dramatically change their industry throughout the course of their financial careers.

When the lecturers from the Melbourne Business School first approached the Video and Media (VM) team, their goal was to increase student skills in coding by presenting lecture-style videos embedded within PowerPoint slides. However, as the collaboration progressed, something crucial came to light.

It would be near impossible to increase student understanding without first increasing student engagement. To deliver the subject’s foundational information, the content had to bridge the gap between students and their perception of its usefulness.

Our challenge was to change their mindset.

Outside the podcast studio, looking through a window to where where two people sit recording.

The solution: A podcast series

To change the mindset of the students, we had to think outside the box. Which is why the lecturers and the VM team agreed that it might be more effective to produce a podcast rather than a video. This format could disrupt student expectations of their academic content by creating an element of surprise and curiosity. It was also a more cost-effective use of the faculty’s budget.

The podcast format offered the flexibility to switch between time, place, and people during a single episode, thus creating more interesting narrative opportunities. The script development was a collaboration between the Learning Environments team, the academics and the professional comedian who hosted the podcast. The VM team provided the initial creative guidance and the technical skills required to produce it.

The result is a laugh-out-loud podcast called ‘Fintech IRL’ that reveals the crossroads of finance and technology in the real world. It features expert guest speakers who simplify complex economic concepts using everyday examples and impacts.

Importantly, the content helps students to develop their critical thinking skills and allows them to fully appreciate the value and application of the ideas behind Fintech.

Outside the podcast studio, looking in through a window to where four people sit recording.

The result: Accessible academia that sparks student interest

With this podcast integrated into their study module, commerce students are more engaged than ever before with a sector of the industry that will shape the future of finance globally. They can now appreciate how and why Fintech is relevant to their everyday lives and future careers.

By re-shaping standard lecture content into an engaging podcast, the Melbourne Business School educators, along with the VM team, were able to break through the “groan-zone” with students, facilitating learning that lasts far beyond the classroom.

This project was produced by Video and Media. Supporting excellence in teaching and research at the University of Melbourne.

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