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Given their easy accessibility and dual‐channel model of content presentation, instructional videos have become a favoured tool for EFL vocabulary learning tool among many students. Teachers often use various nonverbal behaviours to elicit social reactions and guide learners' attention in instructional videos. The current study conducted three eye‐tracking experiments to examine the circumstances under which a teacher's happy facial expressions are beneficial in instructional videos, with or without pointing gestures and mouse pointing. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that the combination of happy facial expressions and pointing gestures attracted learners' attention to the teacher and hindered students' learning performance, regardless of the complexity of slides. Experiment 3 showed that in instructional videos with complex slides, using happy facial expressions along with mouse pointing can enhance students' learning performance. Teachers are advised to show happy facial expressions and avoid using pointing gestures when designing instructional videos. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Given easy accessibility and dual‐channel model of content presentation, instructional videos have become a favoured tool for EFL vocabulary learning. When teachers record instructional videos while standing alongside slides, they often use nonverbal cues to support their speech. Teachers' social and attentional cues interactively influence students' learning processes and performance. What this paper adds A teacher's happy facial expressions evoke more positive emotions and greater motivation in learners compared to bored expressions. A teacher's pointing gestures, when combined with happy facial expressions, divert students' attention away from slides and towards the teacher. A teacher's happy facial expressions enhance students' learning performance when no pointing gestures are used in videos with simple slides. Implications for practice/policy Teachers are advised to display happy facial expressions and avoid using pointing gestures in instructional videos, regardless of the complexity of the slides. Practitioners should consider how to incorporate teachers' facial expressions pointing gestures and mouse pointing effectively. What is already known about this topic Given easy accessibility and dual‐channel model of content presentation, instructional videos have become a favoured tool for EFL vocabulary learning. When teachers record instructional videos while standing alongside slides, they often use nonverbal cues to support their speech. Teachers' social and attentional cues interactively influence students' learning processes and performance. What this paper adds A teacher's happy facial expressions evoke more positive emotions and greater motivation in learners compared to bored expressions. A teacher's pointing gestures, when combined with happy facial expressions, divert students' attention away from slides and towards the teacher. A teacher's happy facial expressions enhance students' learning performance when no pointing gestures are used in videos with simple slides. Implications for practice/policy Teachers are advised to display happy facial expressions and avoid using pointing gestures in instructional videos, regardless of the complexity of the slides. Practitioners should consider how to incorporate teachers' facial expressions pointing gestures and mouse pointing effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of two types of oral explanations (ie, self‐explanation vs. instructional explanation) and drawing activity (no drawing vs. drawing) on video learning outcomes. These outcomes were measured by visual attention to the video (indexed by fixation time on text and diagram areas), explanation quality (indexed by personal references, concepts, and elaborations), drawing quality, behaviour patterns and overall learning performance gain. A total of 116 undergraduate and graduate students watched a 4‐min video on the human body's respiratory system. They were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (explanation generation: self‐explanation vs. instructional explanation × drawing activity: no drawing vs. drawing). Results indicated that without a drawing requirement, students in the self‐explanation condition displayed fewer personal references and exhibited a lower learning performance gain than those in the instructional explanation condition. Conversely, when drawing was required, self‐explanation students demonstrated higher drawing quality and better learning performance gain. Additionally, students in the drawing condition directed more attention to the diagram area than those in the no drawing condition. These findings suggest that in video learning (1) educators should encourage students to produce oral instructional explanations and (2) if the goal is for students to generate self‐explanations, they should also be prompted to draw to bolster their self‐explanation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning from video lectures with peers, that is, co‐viewing video lectures, is a common mode of learning across a wide range of ages and topics in the information age. Objectives: The present study tested the effects of learners' motivation on co‐viewing video lectures in terms of learning performance, mental effort, and interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS). Methods: The current study was quantitative experimental. In total, 142 participants were recruited and divided into 71 dyads to manipulate task motivation from three aspects: meaning, interest, and reward. Then, they were divided into three experimental conditions according to the level of task motivation: two low task motivation learners (LL condition), a combination of one low and the other high (HL condition), and two high task motivation learners (HH condition). Two participants in a dyad were asked to view a video lecture on a shared screen and not talk until the end of the video lecture, with both learners in full view. Simultaneously, we recorded the cortical hemodynamic activity of two participants in each dyad using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results and Conclusions: The group‐level analysis showed that two high‐task motivation learners had better learning performance, greater mental effort, and stronger IBS than a combination of one low and one high‐task motivation and two low‐task motivation. The results from the individual assessment indicated that pairing a person with low task motivation with another with high task motivation resulted in benefits for the low‐task motivation learner in terms of their self‐perceived learning. However, it negatively affected the performance of the high task motivation learner. Implications: First, high‐task motivation learners were encouraged to co‐view video lectures. Second, instructors were encouraged to intervene between their interactions by providing timely feedback to avoid losses for high‐task motivation learners, as this composition benefits low‐task motivation learners. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Most studies consider viewing video lectures as an individual process and test the role of learners' motivation at the individual level.Co‐viewing video lectures is a common mode of learning across a wide range of ages and topics in the information age.Learners' task motivation is essential for optimal learning in various settings. What this paper adds: Having two high task motivation co‐viewers enhanced their learning, encompassing retention, transfer, and confidence in performing well.Having two high task motivation co‐viewers enhanced IBS in the rTPJ‐rTPJ and IPL‐SMA pairings.Pairing a low task motivation learner with a high task motivation learner could be beneficial for the low task motivation learner, but it may result in losses for the high task motivation learner. Implications for practice and/or policy: Future work should verify the conclusions of the current study in natural settings, allowing verbal interaction versus settings permitting only nonverbal interaction and avoiding experimenter expectations.Future research should continue to test the long‐term effects of pairing a low task motivation learner with a high task motivation learner.We encourage high task motivation learners to co‐view video lectures.Instructors are advised to intervene in the interaction of pairs of a low task motivation learner with a high task motivation learner, for instance, by providing timely feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand the effect of task motivation on online group creative performance and interpersonal interaction. A total of 150 university students were recruited to collaborate online on creativity tasks in dyads. The Mmembers' task motivation was manipulated, resulting in three groups that differed in their motivation composition. Ratings of creative performance (fluency and originality), hemodynamic inter-brain synchronization, and lag sequential analysis were compared among the three groups. The results showed that groups comprising two highly motivated members conducted an efficient communication mode and achieved the best creative performance. Contrastingly, groups composed of one high- and one low-motivation member demonstrated the closest interpersonal interaction among members. The findings of this study suggest that it is essential to ensure that every member is highly motivated to improve creative performance in online groups. However, this may result in reduced interpersonal interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much effort has been put into the design of video lectures, but little attention has been paid to the social environment in which learning takes place. The present study addressed this gap by assigning Chinese undergraduate and graduate students who had passed the College English Test-4 to learn easy or difficult English vocabulary words in three different conditions: alone, in the presence of a peer spectator, or in the presence of a peer co-actor. In Experiment 1, participants learned difficult vocabulary words and the effects were measured by both neural activity (EEG signals, measured while participants watched the video lectures and during the generative learning activities) and behavioral evidence (learning performance assessed after having watched the video lectures: immediate and delayed test scores, cognitive load, and motivation). Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that learning alone was more beneficial than learning in the presence of a peer, as indicated by better learning performance and reduced EEG theta band power. In Experiment 2, participants learned easy (rather than difficult) English vocabulary words and outcomes were measured by immediate and delayed learning performance. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that the presence of a peer was more beneficial than learning easy content alone. Combined data from both experiments showed that difficulty moderated the effect of social context. Participants performed best when students learned the difficult content alone, and when they learned the easy content with a peer present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of instructional videos has increased in recent years. Instructors' speech acts as a social cue which plays an important role in children's learning from these videos. For example, an instructor's personalization style (personalized or non-personalized form) and pause types (pause or no pause) are potential design considerations which can support student learning within a multimedia environment. However, it is not yet well known how these factors influence children's attention allocation, learning performance, and academic emotion. The present study examined the effect of instructors' personalized forms and pause types on 28 six-year-old children in a laboratory setting. Eye tracking data revealed that the combined use of personalization and pauses in instructional videos best enhanced children's learning performance and attention allocation. However, there was no significant difference in between the four conditions. The study findings recommend that when creating instructional videos, instructors should speak in a personalized form and should incorporate regular transient pauses. The use of first-person language can also act as a social cue, enabling students' deep processing of the instructor's verbal information and increasing the instructor's social presence in the videos. This gives learners more time for cognitive processing, ultimately improving their learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality, as an excellent supportive instructional technology, has gained increasing attention from educators and professionals, where desktop‐based virtual reality (DVR) is broadly adopted due to its affordability and accessibility. However, when evaluating students' learning experiences such as flow experiences in DVR environments, most studies adopt a single construct (the total score of flow experience) rather than multiple constructs (enjoyment, engagement, concentration, presence and time distortion). This study implemented desktop‐based virtual reality for a STEM bridge designing program with a total of 254 undergraduates to investigate the relationship between self‐regulation skills, five dimensions of flow experience, learning satisfaction and continuous intention when engaging in a DVR learning environment. The results revealed that self‐regulated learning exerted a dominant impact on students' learning attitudes in DVR learning, in which students' flow experience had a significant mediating effect. Notably, although DVR exhibited poor time distortion, higher satisfaction and continuous intention were still predicted by the mentality of flow experience (ie, enjoyment, engagement, concentration and presence). The findings of this study contribute to the consideration of learning experiences and attitudes, which has insights for the future design of desktop‐based virtual reality environments and related instructional activities. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Students are different in self‐regulation skills, which influences their satisfaction and continuous intention in learning.Students' self‐regulation skills are one of the important variables in predicting their flow experience.A high level of flow experience contributes to a coherent and efficient learning experience within desktop‐based virtual reality (DVR) environments.What this paper adds Students' self‐regulation skills positively predicted their flow experience and satisfaction in DVR environments.The components of flow experience (enjoyment, concentration and presence) partially mediated the relationship between self‐regulation skills and satisfaction.Students' self‐regulation skills indirectly affect continuous intention by the enjoyment and engagement of flow experiences.Implications for practice and/or policy When delivering DVR‐based learning activities educators should be supportive of students with low levels of self‐regulation skills.Emphasis on promoting flow experiences such as enjoyment, engagement, concentration and presence in designing a DVR‐based classroom could enhance student satisfaction and continuous intention.Embedding scaffolding or feedback in DVR settings would support self‐regulated learning and subsequently improve student satisfaction and persistence through enhanced flow experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that outlines can help learners establish a conceptual framework that connects new knowledge with prior knowledge, and thus promote learning. However, it is unclear whether outlines are beneficial before learning from watching an educational video. We tested the effects of two goal setting strategies on learning from a video lecture. Learners (N = 87) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: read an instructor-generated outline before the video (n = 29); read the same outline, and based on it, generate their own outline of the key ideas before the video (n = 29); control group (n = 29). The study was conducted in an eye-tracking laboratory. Learners in the instructor-generated outline group reported higher learning engagement than those in the control group. Learners in the reading and generating outline group paid greater attention to the learning materials, and had higher learning performance scores, than those in the control group. The two strategy groups did not differ from each other on learning engagement or learning performance. The findings suggest that: To improve learning, instructors should ask learners to read an instructor-generated outline, and to generate their own outline based on the instructor's outline, before viewing the video lecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning from video lectures is becoming a prevalent learning activity in formal and informal settings. However, relatively little research has been carried out on the interactions of learning strategies and social environment in learning from video lectures. The present study addresses this gap by examining whether learner-generated explanations and co-learner presence with or without nonverbal praise independently and interactively affected learning from a self-paced video lecture about infectious diseases. University students were randomized into viewing either the video with instructor-generated explanations or the same video but generating explanations themselves. Outcomes were assessed by the quality of explanations, learning performance, mental effort, attention allocation, and behavioral patterns. Between-group comparisons showed that, in the absence of a peer co-learner, learning performance was similar in both the instructor-generated and learner-generated explanation groups. However, in the presence of a peer, learner-generated explanation facilitated learning performance. Furthermore, learner-generated explanation in the presence of a co-learner also reduced learners' mental effort and primed more behaviors related to self-regulation and monitoring. The results lead to the following strong recommendation for educational practice when using video lectures: if students learn by generating their own explanations in the presence of a co-learner, they will show better learning performance even though the learning is not necessarily more demanding, and will engage in more behaviors related to explanation adjustment and self-regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we tested the effectiveness of three learning strategies (self‐explanation, learning by teaching and passive viewing) used by students who were learning from video lectures. Effectiveness was measured not only with traditional measures, but also with electroencephalography (EEG). Using a within‐subjects design, 26 university students viewed three sets of short lectures, each presenting a different set of English vocabulary words and were asked to use a different learning strategy for each set of lectures. Participants' EEG signals were assessed while watching the videos; learning experience (self‐reported motivation and engagement) and learning performance (vocabulary recall test score) were assessed after watching the videos. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that the self‐explaining and teaching strategies were more beneficial than the passive viewing strategy, as indicated by higher EEG theta and alpha band power, a more positive learning experience (higher motivation and engagement) and better learning performance. However, whereas the teaching strategy elicited greater neural oscillations related to working memory and attention compared to the self‐explanation strategy, the two groups did not differ on self‐reported learning experience or learning performance. Our findings are discussed in terms of potential application in courses using video lectures and in terms of their heuristic value for future research on the neural processes that differentiate learning strategies. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Watching video lectures does not always result in learners actively making sense of the learning material.Self‐explaining facilitates deep learning from viewing video lectures and in traditional educational settings.Learning by teaching also facilitates deep learning in traditional educational settings.What this paper adds Learning by teaching resulted in the highest theta and alpha band power in EEG assessment while viewing video lectures.Compared with passive viewing, learning by teaching enhanced students' motivation to try to understand the material; in addition, both learning by teaching and self‐explaining enhanced the amount of mental effort students put into understanding the material.Learning was increased via both self‐explaining and teaching strategies after viewing video lectures.Implications for practice and/or policy Learners are encouraged to generate explanations during pauses in video lectures or after viewing them, in order to increase learning.Learners are also encouraged to learn by teaching, as this strategy can increase learning and also increase neural oscillations associated with memory and attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become increasingly common in recent years. As the main component of MOOCs, instructional videos play a significant role in students' learning. This study builds on the extant research on multimedia learning by testing the impact of teachers' continuous vs. intermittent presence in procedural knowledge instructional videos. Students' outcomes were assessed in terms of achievement, learning satisfaction, social presence, and cognitive load. Using a quasi-experimental design, 120 Chinese undergraduate students from four undergraduate classes, were randomly assigned to one of two video conditions based on whether the instructor had a continuous or intermittent presence in an instructional video teaching procedural knowledge. A series of independent sample t tests revealed that a teacher's intermittent presentational approach improved learning achievement and satisfaction, and created less cognitive load relative to a continuous presentational approach. Results of this study can contribute to the design of procedural knowledge instructional videos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instructor behaviour is known to affect learning performance, but it is unclear which specific instructor behaviours can optimize learning. We used eye‐tracking technology and questionnaires to test whether the instructor's gaze guidance affected learners' visual attention, social presence, and learning performance, using four video lectures: declarative knowledge with and without the instructor's gaze guidance and procedural knowledge with and without the instructor's gaze guidance. The results showed that the instructor's gaze guidance not only guided learners to allocate more visual attention to corresponding learning content but also increased learners' sense of social presence and learning. Furthermore, the link between the instructor's gaze guidance and better learning was especially strong for participants with a high sense of social connection with the instructor when they learned procedural knowledge. The findings lead to a strong recommendation for educational practitioners: Instructors should provide gaze guidance in video lectures for better learning performance. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Learners reported that they had to be far more focused when watching video lecture, and the learning effectiveness of video lectures was not satisfactory in educational practice.Attentional cues are non‐content information that can timely guide learners' visual attention to the information instructor mentioned.Human cues in video lectures not only inferred instructor's gestures but also inferred eye guidance. What their paper adds to this: The instructor's gaze guidance not only increased learners' level of social presence but also timely guided learners to allocate more visual attention to corresponding learning content.The instructor's gaze guidance facilitated learners' performance when learning via video lectures. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Instructor should provide gaze guidance in video lectures for better learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]