Designing Effective Instructional Videos

Last summer, many instructors were scrambling to adjust to teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. For many teachers that meant developing videos for students to watch. We’ve discussed some of the research on how students learn from videos, and this week I want to take a look at how best to create videos for students.

A recent paper by Richard Mayer in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition does just that (1). He reviews research on how people learn from multimedia presentations and presents several evidence-based principles on how to best design instructional videos based on that research.

Learning Theories to Keep In Mind

Before listing the strategies for effective instructional videos, Mayer reviews some of the theories from the science of learning that guide those principles (1). For frequent readers of our blog, these should look pretty familiar!

First, dual channels, i.e. dual coding. When thinking about the design of your video it is important to remember the limitations we have on processing information, particularly verbal information. Learning is generally enhanced when both visual and verbal information are presented. When we present verbal information on top of verbal information, it’s difficult to process and therefore remember. For example, talking over text that is being presented on screen would make it difficult for learners to focus on either what is being said or what they are supposed to be reading. By contrast, describing a picture that is on screen will be much more effective.

Next, limited capacity. As alluded to above, we cannot take in unlimited amounts of information simultaneously. There are limits to how much information we can take in at one time. When designing instructional videos it will be important to be selective about what information you’re presenting, as well as how best to present that information.

Finally, active learning. By active learning Mayer means that “learners must engage in appropriate cognitive processing during learning, including attending to the relevant incoming information […] mentally organizing it into coherent representation […] and relating it to relevant knowledge activated from long-term memory” (Mayer, 2021 pg. 2). In other words, we have to be aware of how students will (or will not!) engage with the content.

Image from Pixabay

Learner Demands to Keep in Mind

Watching an instructional video can be demanding on students’ cognitive resources. Mayer describes the different cognitive demands that students encounter while watching instructional videos.

First, extraneous processing. This is any processing that doesn’t help students learn and can be the result of poor design. Perhaps in an attempt to make engaging and information-dense videos, instructors might use extraneous graphics or text in the lesson. These can be distracting and take away from the learning objectives.

Next, essential processing. This is processing devoted to building a mental representation of the material. This mental representation helps the learner understand the information being presented. Therefore, the complexity of the material will affect essential processing, with more complex material being more demanding of essential processing than less complex material.

Finally, generative processing. This is processing devoted making sense of the material. A student’s motivation can affect how much effort they’re willing to put in to make sense of what is being presented.

Principles for Effective Instructional Videos

Mayer lists 14 principles for effective instruction based on the learning theories and the learner demands. I won’t list all 14 principles here, instead I’ll highlight just a few.

The Multimedia Principle

According to this principle, learning is improved when both narration and graphics are used rather than words alone. This principle leverages what we know about dual coding and takes advantage of the format information is being presented in. The example given in the paper is about a bicycle tire pump works. In a comparison between a verbal description (the instructor simply looked into the camera and explained how the bike pump works) and a narration over a short graphic (the same description, just over an animated graphic of the bike pump), the narration + graphic group performed better on transfer questions (2, 3).

The Signaling Principle

This is one of several principles listed under “Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing”. The signaling principle encourages highlighting key material as it is being presented. This can be done verbally or visually. For example, to emphasize key terms the speaker can stress them through speech by speaking with a lower intonation and pausing after the key term. This helps guide the learner’s attention through the video and helps them to build a mental model of the material being presented (4). Similarly, when presenting diagrams or other graphics, attention can be directed to relevant portions of the graphic through pointing or coloring (5).

The Segmenting Principle

Image from Pixabay

This is one of several principles listed under “Principles for Managing Essential Processing”. The segmenting principle suggests breaking down a complex presentation into manageable segments whose pace can be controlled by the learner. Mayer describes research where students were able to click an arrow key to progress through segments of a multimedia presentation (6). However, I imagine that a similar effect can be achieved by presenting labeled slides throughout the presentation such that it would be easier for a learner to navigate the video, giving them the ability to pause and re-watch specific portions.

The Personalization Principle

This is one of several principles listed under “Principles for Fostering Generative Processing”. The personalization principle advocates for using conversational language, rather than formal, in instructional videos. For example, in a description of the human raspatory system talk about how “your mouth” works rather than “the mouth”. “Personalized language is intended to help the learner feel that the instructor is working with them, which can prime stronger motivation to exert effort to understand what the instructor is saying

Many of the principles Mayer suggests seemed obvious. However, I know from experience that it’s hard to keep all of these different principles in mind as you are making videos. It’s so easy to get caught up in the specifics on what you’re teaching, that you can forget to do simple things like verbally signaling key terms, or think about whether you can narrate over an animation or a video to improve comprehension. It’s useful to have such a handy list of evidence-based practice on hand!

References

(1) Mayer (in press). Evidence Based Principles for How to Design Effective Instructional Videos, Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.03.007

(2) Mayer, R. E. & Anderson, R. B. (1991). Animations need narrations: An experimental test of a dual-coding hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 484-490. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.83.4.484

(3) Mayer, R. E. & Anderson, R. B. (1992). The instructive animation: Helping students build connections between words and pictures in multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 444-452. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.84.4.444

(4) Mautone, P. D. & Mayer, R. E. (2001). Signaling as a Cognitive Guide in Multimedia Learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 371-389. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.93.2.377

(5) Lie, W., Wang, F., Mayer, R. E., & Liu, H. (2019). Getting to the point: Which kinds of gestures by pedagogical agents improve multimedia learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(8), 1382-1395. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000352

(6) Mayer, R. E., Howarth, J. T., Kaplan M., & Hannah, S. (2018). Applying the segmenting principle to online geography slideshow lessons. Educational Technology Research and Devlopment, 66, 563-577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-017-9554-x