The Influence of Representational Formats and Learner Modality Preferences on Instructional Efficiency Using Interactive Video Tutorials

Chun-Ying Chen

Abstract


This study investigated how to create effective interactive video tutorials for learning computer-based tasks. The role of learner modality preferences was also considered. A 4 × 4 between-subjects factorial design was employed to examine the influence of instruction representational formats (noninteractive static, interactive static, interactive visual-only video with onscreen text, interactive video with audio narration) and learner modality preferences (visual, aural, read/write, multimodal) on instructional efficiency. Instructional efficiency was a combined effect of test performance and perceived cognitive load during learning. The results suggested that implementing interactivity into the video tutorials tended to increase transfer performance, and the role of modality preferences was related to learners’ perceived cognitive load. The significant interaction effect on transfer efficiency indicated: (a) the auditory preference tended to exhibit better transfer efficiency with the narrated video, and (b) the read/write preference tended to exhibit better transfer efficiency with both the noninteractive static format and the captioned video. This study highlighted the importance of considering individual differences in modality preferences, particularly that of auditory and read/write learners.


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v7i2.17415

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