The Effect of Seeing an Instructor’s Face within an Instructional Video on Connectedness, Attention, and Satisfaction Dissertation Manuscript Submitted to Northcentral University School of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by APRIL PIERSON San Diego, California May, 2017 Approval Page The Effect of Seeing an Instructor’s Face within an Instructional Video on Connectedness, Attention, and Satisfaction By April Pierson Approved by: 6/28/2017 Chair: Dr. Rebecca Miro, Ph.D. Date Certified by: Dr. John Neal 6/28/2017 Dean: Dr. John Neal, Ed.D. Date ii Abstract Retention of online students is lower than that of students in face-to-face learning environments. With the growth in online learning, instructional video is becoming more common. This quantitative, experimental study examined the effect of seeing an instructor’s face within an instructional video through a webcam recording. A convenience sample of 128 participants at a medium-sized university in the Midwestern United States watched a video with the same content and audio narration but the experimental group also saw the instructor’s webcam video in a corner of the screen. Participants’ responses on in-video quiz questions and a post-survey were compared to identify significant differences in connectedness, attention, and satisfaction – variables that can positively impact student retention and learning outcomes. Participants who saw video of the instructor’s face reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction and connectedness, but there was no significant difference in attention. This study contributes to the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and Social Agency Theory by updating and extending the image principle to include information about connectedness, satisfaction, and attention. Recommendations for future study include replication or similar studies with different content, instructors, and student populations; different methods to assess attention; an assessment of learning; and a similar study in a live class. iii Acknowledgements First, I would like to express gratitude to my chair, Dr. Rebecca Miro, whose timely and helpful responses made this process much less painful than I anticipated. Your empathy as I went through a tough time was very much appreciated. Additional thanks to Dr. David Hildebrandt for helpful and kindly-written feedback on the subject matter. Huge thanks to my husband who entertained himself while I worked on school weekend after weekend, kept the house quiet so I could concentrate, and occasionally patted me on the back and said things are going to be ok. Thank you, Andy, for accepting both the time and money I have spent on school. I look forward to doing more fun things with you in my free time. I have to include a big thanks to my coworkers, particularly Avonlea and Tiffany, who provided feedback on my ideas, pilot tested the study, and listened to my complaints! Also, thanks to all the instructors I work with who asked me how it was going and provided encouragement. I am not sure if I would have started my PhD without the encouragement of my former supervisor, Rick Mickelson, and financial support of my department, Learning and Technology Services. Thanks Rick; I wasn’t sure the whole time, but now that I am done, I think this was a good idea. Lastly, I have to thank my mom and dad for encouraging me to pursue my education and making me feel like I was smart enough to do whatever I wanted to do. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Background .................................................................................................................. 2 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 4 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................... 5 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 8 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................... 9 Nature of the Study ...................................................................................................... 9 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................... 10 Definition of Key Terms ............................................................................................ 11 Summary .................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 13 Documentation ........................................................................................................... 13 Distance Education and Online Education ................................................................ 14 Instructional Videos ................................................................................................... 17 Types of Instructional Videos .................................................................................... 19 Designing Effective Instructional Videos .................................................................. 23 Student Departure and Retention in Higher Education ............................................. 26 Social Aspects of Learning ........................................................................................ 31 Student Preferences and Satisfaction ......................................................................... 40 Attention .................................................................................................................... 43 Seeing an Instructor’s Face in an Instructional Video ............................................... 49 Summary .................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 3: Research Method ............................................................................................. 57 Research Methods and Design ................................................................................... 60 Population .................................................................................................................. 61 Sample ....................................................................................................................... 62 v Materials/Instruments ................................................................................................ 62 Operational Definition of Variables .......................................................................... 63 Data Collection, Processing, and Analysis ................................................................ 64 Assumptions .............................................................................................................. 68 Limitations ................................................................................................................. 68 Delimitations .............................................................................................................. 69 Ethical Assurances ..................................................................................................... 69 Summary .................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 4: Findings ........................................................................................................... 71 Trustworthiness of Data ............................................................................................. 71 Results ........................................................................................................................ 72 Research Question 1: ................................................................................................. 75 Research Question 2: ................................................................................................. 78 Research Question 3: ................................................................................................. 78 Evaluation of Findings ............................................................................................... 82 Summary .................................................................................................................... 84 Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusions ........................................ 85 Implications ............................................................................................................... 85 Recommendations for Application ............................................................................ 89 Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................... 89 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 93 References. ........................................................................................................................ 94 Appendix A: Survey Questions ...................................................................................... 105 Appendix B: Histograms ................................................................................................. 107 Appendix C: Frequency Tables for Connectedness and Satisfaction Items ................... 111 Appendix D: Screenshots of PowerPoint Slides from the Videos .................................. 118 vi List of Tables Table 1: Participants’ Majors ........................................................................................ 74 Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation by Group for Connectedness Items ................ 76 Table 3: Mann-Whitney U Test Results for Connectedness Items ............................... 77 Table 4: In-Video Questions ......................................................................................... 79 Table 5: Estimated Time Paying Attention ................................................................... 80 Table 6: Times Participants Multitasked ....................................................................... 81 vii Chapter 1: Introduction With the growth in online learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), instructional video is becoming more common (Chen & Wu, 2015). Examples of instructional videos that instructors can create on their own computers or tablets include screencasts demonstrating computer processes, Khan Academy style recordings of written calculations with narration, webcam recordings of an instructor, or narrated PowerPoints or Prezis. Many software programs allow an instructor’s webcam video to be included within instructional video content in a picture-in-picture style so the student sees both the instructor’s face and the content, similar to a face-to-face presentation. Several studies have included comparisons of videos including instructor webcam video to those showing content without the instructor (Dey, Burn, & Gerdes, 2009; Frisby, Limperos, Record, Downs, & Kercsmar, 2013; Homer, Plass, & Blake, 2008; Kizilcec, Bailenson, & Gomez, 2015; Lyons, Reysen, & Pierce, 2012; Moreno, Mayer, Spires, & Lester, 2001). However, researchers often define or examine dependent variables such as social presence differently, making accurate comparisons difficult. In several studies, seeing an instructor’s face in a video did not impact learning on a posttest (Homer et al., 2008; Moreno et al., 2001), but it may have a social and motivational impact that builds rapport with the instructor and increases generative learning (Mayer, 2014a; Moreno et al., 2001). Social aspects of learning such as student- professor rapport are associated with increased learning (Creasey, Jarvis, & Knapcik, 2009; Micari & Pazos, 2012), but social relationships can be more difficult to build in online courses (Lammers & Gillaspy, 2013; Murphy & Rodriguez-Manzanares, 2012). 1 Student preferences and satisfaction are important to consider as they can have an impact on attrition (Koper, 2015), a problematic aspect of online learning (Atchley, Wingenbach, & Akers, 2013; McLaren, 2004; Rovai, 2002). Although information about preferences is important to develop online programs that meet students’ needs (Koper, 2015), this information is scarce (Paechter & Maier, 2010). Students often rate content in video higher than content in text, particularly when it is created by their instructors, even though videos do not necessarily correlate with higher grades (Draus, Curran, & Trempus, 2014; Miller & Redman, 2010). While incorporating video into an online course may not be enough to increase retention on its own, it can impact social aspects of learning (Koumi, 2006) which contribute to retention (Tinto, 2012). Researchers have explored seeing an instructor’s face within an instructional video minimally, with conflicting results (Drouin, Hile, Vartanian, & Webb, 2013; Homer et al., 2008; Kizilcec et al., 2015). Seeing the instructor’s face in an instructional video may be a strategy to improve attention – a valuable area of study, as mind wandering correlates with reduced learning outcomes (Risko, Anderson, Sarwal, Engelhardt, & Kingstone, 2012). In general, people attend well to faces (Cerf, Frady, & Koch, 2009). Korving, Hernandez, and DeGroot (2016) indicated that it might be more helpful to see a larger video of the instructor when watching long videos, but found no difference after watching a short video or in comparison to seeing the content without the instructor. Background Distance education began with correspondence courses in shorthand sent through mail in 1728 (Danver, 2016). The expansion of railways in the 1880’s made distance 2 education more prevalent and it transitioned into radio and television later, then teleconferencing, and, currently, online courses are a large sector of distance education (Aggarwal, 2007; Moore & Kearsley, 2005). In 2013, 7.1 million college students enrolled in at least one online course (Allen & Seaman, 2014). With the large number of students learning online, retaining online students is particularly important. New online students may have difficulty adapting to the environment, partly due to lacking support and feedback (Klingsieck, Fries, Horz, & Hofer, 2012). Both social and academic integration are important to retain students in all modalities of education (Tinto, 2012). Online educators often rely on video as the primary content modality, or at least minimally to supplement instruction (Kim & Thayne, 2015). Video adds value to education by facilitating learning and development of skills, affording vicarious experiences, and nurturing social and internal aspects of learning (Koumi, 2006). Students often rate videos positively and report enjoying them (Draus et al., 2014; Miller & Redman, 2010). Videos created by the instructor of the class are particularly well- received by students (McGovern & Baruca, 2013; Miller & Redman, 2010). Students’ attention spans have become a topic of interest with the plethora of technological distractions available in and outside of the classroom. Researchers found that students’ minds wandered when watching an instructional video between 43% (Hollis & Was, 2016; Risko et al., 2012) and 32% of the time (Loh, Tan, & Lim, 2016). Seeing a person’s face may be a strategy to increase attention because it adds more information to understand the material being provided (Korving et al., 2016). Seeing an instructor’s face in an instructional video may be a strategy that can improve attention, social aspects of learning, and student satisfaction. 3