Effective Learning Videos
As many are beginning a new term, perhaps some have already started their sessions; and most of us remain teaching online, I thought sharing research on creating effective instructional videos would be helpful. The 2016 paper entitled, "Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content" by Brame highlights several key features which help students conceptual connections while viewing class videos. The author shares three major elements of video design which can help instructors maximize video’s utility, including cognitive load, student engagement, and active learning.
Cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1994) indicates that sensory memory is transient, collecting information from the environment. Information from sensory memory may be selected for temporary storage and processed in working memory, which has limited capacity, and is a prerequisite for encoding into long-term memory. The Brame (2016) paper tabulates practices to maximize student learning from videos in the following:
Use signaling (cueing) to highlight important information
Use segmenting to chunk information
Use weeding to eliminate extraneous information
Keep video's brief (~6 minutes)
Use conversational language
Speak relatively quickly and with enthusiasm
Package videos to emphasize relevance
Consider these strategies for promoting active learning
Packaging video with interactive question
Use interactive features that give students control
Use guiding (inquiry-based) questions
Make video part of a larger homework assignment
Brame (2016) also cites Schacter and Szpunar's (2015) work for enhancing learning from videos that identifies online learning as a type of self-regulated learning (SRL). I have shared research on the importance of SRL on several SoTL articles previously. SRL requires students to monitor their own learning, to identify learning difficulties, and to respond to these judgments; in other words, it requires students to actively build and interrogate mental models, practicing metacognition about the learning process.
Brame C. J. (2016). Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content. CBE life sciences education, 15(4), es6. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-03-0125
Sweller J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learn Instr., 4:295–312.
Schacter DL, Szpunar KK. (2015) Enhancing attention and memory during video-recorded lectures. Sch Teach Learn Psychol., 1:60–71
