The empirical evidence concerning the question whether an instructor should be presented on online lecture slides is equivocal and two lines of theoretical reasoning exist. On the one hand, the instructor may distract from the content, thereby hampering learning; on the other hand, the instructor may function as a social cue that triggers a more…

The current study investigated the effects of segmentation design and drawing on college students' video learning. Participants were 158 college students randomly assigned to view either a segmented or continuous video lecture (video type: segmented vs continuous) and who either received instructed to draw while learning or no instructions at all…

Cognitive load is a critical internal state associated with learners' learning process and significantly influences learning outcomes. With the worldwide popularity of video-based learning (VBL), tracking real-time cognitive load variations becomes more and more important for the timely provision of adaptive learning support during the learning…

Previous studies have shown that encouraging students to use self-explanation strategies has proven effective in text-focused learning contexts. However, no study to date has focused on how students' strategy preference moderates the effect of self-explanation strategies on learning from video lectures. The current study investigated how students'…

Although core in the teaching of academic language skills, little research to date has investigated what makes video-recorded lectures difficult for language learners. As part of a larger program to develop automated videotext complexity measures, this study reports on selected dimensions of linguistic complexity to understand how they contribute…

Use of online video lectures is increasingly common. However, students may struggle to self-regulate their attention and passively process the content. This study examined whether, and for whom, different types of embedded learning prompts improve student learning from video lectures. Undergraduate physics students (N = 253) watched an online,…

Lectures constitute a basic component of physiology instruction in scientific and healthcare curricula. Technological progress has allowed a switch from face to face to video lectures, yet there is no evidence of video efficacy in physiology. Because videos increase the cognitive load during a learning task, identifying tools that decrease…

The study investigated the effect of an instructor's positive (vs. neutral) emotions in video lectures on student learning using either easy or difficult geography topics (i.e. easy: the Earth within the universe; difficult: understanding time and date calculations of Earth). The results showed that, first, students responded more positively…

The instructor's eye gaze can serve as an important social cue in video lectures. The current study used two sets of three-level meta-analyses to explore the effects of the instructor's guided gaze or the instructor's direct gaze on learning outcomes, fixation time, perception of parasocial interaction, and cognitive load. A total of eight…

Spatial understanding of complex anatomical concepts is often a challenge for learners, as well as for educators. It is even more challenging for students with low mental spatial abilities. There are many options to teach spatial relationships, ranging from simple models to high-end three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality tools. Using a randomized…

In traditional advanced mathematics lectures the instructor usually provides definitions, theorems, and proofs on the board rather quickly. The students often cannot make sense of these during the lecture as they are busy writing. In order to gain an understanding of the content, an intensive post-class processing on the basis of their notes would…

Pre-recorded lectures have become a prevalent approach in online education due to the proliferation of MOOC platforms and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to the lack of real-time interactions between instructors and learners, learners have encountered various difficulties in understanding the lectures and actively engaging with the learning…

Most chemistry students struggle with interpreting and understanding NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra and the general concepts of NMR spectroscopy. NMR spectroscopy seems to be difficult to both teach and learn. Therefore, the corresponding courses should be investigated in more detail. We conducted a survey with N = 39 German university…

Background: Little is known about the effectiveness of instructors when presenting content in videos alone. In recent years, researchers have increasingly begun to explore the effects of instructors' social cues (e.g., eye gaze, body orientation, etc.) on learning. However, previous studies exploring the effects of eye gaze have confounded the…

Many online videos feature an instructor on the screen to improve learners' engagement; however, the influence of this design on learners' cognitive load is underexplored. This study investigates the effects of instructor presence on learners' processing of information using both subjective and psychophysiological measures of cognitive load. Sixty…