Psychologists at the University of California have shown that turning on the camera during online classes increases appearance anxiety and decreases student performance. there was work published In Applied Cognitive Psychology.
In the first experiment, over 170 undergraduates listened to a 15-minute online lecture in groups of 8 to 10 people. Some of the volunteers had to turn on the camera, some did not. After the end of the lesson, all the volunteers evaluated their anxiety levels and were also tested on the material of the lesson. The second experiment was the same, only the groups consisted of 30-40 students.
224 students have already participated in the third experiment. They were all randomly divided into three groups: the first, they listened to the lecture with the camera off, the second – with the camera on, and the third – when they saw their own footage, unlike the participants. per second. This time the groups consisted of 10-25 people.
Statistical analysis of the results showed that the included camera increased students’ anxiety about their appearance, which negatively affected the assimilation of the material. Moreover, volunteers who had the opportunity to see themselves on screen reported even more anxiety. The scientists also stressed that the gender of the participants did not significantly affect the results of the experiments.