Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content

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

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A clear, short, and highly readable review paper that discusses research on educational video and provides practical advice on optimizing three aspects of using video in education effectively:

  1. Managing cognitive load:
    • Use signaling to highlight important information.
    • Use segmenting to chunk information.
    • Use weeding to eliminate extraneous information.
    • Match modality by using auditory and visual channels to convey complementary information.
  2. Maximizing student engagement:
    • Keep each video brief.
    • Use conversational language.
    • Speak relatively quickly and with enthusiasm.
    • Create and/or package videos to emphasize relevance to the course in which they are used.
  3. Promoting active learning:
    • Package video with interactive questions.
    • Use interactive features that give students control.
    • Use guiding questions.
    • Make video part of a larger homework assignment.

Or, more concisely (quote from the conclusion):

  • Keep videos brief and targeted on learning goals.
  • Use audio and visual elements to convey appropriate parts of an explanation; consider how to make these elements complementary rather than redundant.
  • Use signaling to highlight important ideas or concepts.
  • Use a conversational, enthusiastic style to enhance engagement.
  • Embed videos in a context of active learning by using guiding questions, interactive elements, or associated homework assignments.