Effects of an Instructor's Presence on Student Learning From Video Lectures

• In Event: Motivation, Cognition, and Effective Teaching

Abstract

The study investigated how access to a video instructor’s social cues and attentional cues affect learning. One hundred and twenty-six college students were randomly assigned to a video lesson that differed in two factors. Either the instructor periodically gazed at the audience (social cues) or she did not (no social cues) and the instructor’s eye gaze, when facing the whiteboard, was either visible to the audience (attentional cues) or it was not (no attentional cues). Posttest retention and transfer performance were measured. Participants viewing a video lecture with social cues had higher transfer scores without attentional cues than with attentional cues. These results suggest that social cues support learning from video lecture but that attentional cues may hinder learning.

Authors

• Andrew T. Stull, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Logan Fiorella, University of Georgia

• Rebecca Similuk

• Stevi Ibonie

• Richard E. Mayer, University of California - Santa Barbara