Jacqui Cheng examines a study performed by State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia psychologist Dani McKinney. The study suggests that students who download a podcast version of a university lecture tend to perform better academically, than those who don't.
There are a few problems with the study, the first of which is the small sample size. Only 64 students in a single class were studied. I'm not sure how any conclusions can be drawn from such a small sample.
However, Cheng points out something that perhaps has more bearing. She notes that the podcast group was being compared with a group that attended a live lecture and received printed slides :
"I know from experience that many students think that printed slides are merely notes in prepackaged form."
So, even if we accept the findings, it may not be the podcast per se, but rather the style of note-taking it engenders that enhances learning:
"McKinney acknowledged that the students who downloaded the podcast simply seemed to do better with taking notes and paying closer attention to what was being said, as they were able to go back and repeat parts of the lecture they had trouble understanding. 'It isn't so much that you have a podcast, it's what you do with it,' she told New Scientist."
Effective note taking is a form of gaining ownership of the content. It is a way of personalizing and integrating new knowledge into our personal frame of reference. If a podcast can enhance a student's ability to make effective notes, it is little wonder that it's use may see an increase in test scores.
Note Taking and Learning: A Summary of Research by Françoise Boch, Stendhal University, and Annie Piolat, University of Provence is an interesting read in relevance to this. It also contains a useful reference section pointing to further studies.
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