Onscreen presence of instructors in video lectures affects learners' neural synchrony and visual attention during multimedia learning.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19 forced students to rely on online learning using multimedia tools, and multimedia learning continues to impact education beyond the pandemic. In this study, we combined behavioral, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging paradigms to identify multimedia learning processes and outcomes. College students viewed four video lectures including slides with either an onscreen human instructor, an animated instructor, or no onscreen instructor. Brain activity was recorded via fMRI, visual attention was recorded via eye-tracking, and learning outcome was assessed via post-tests. Onscreen presence of instructor, compared with no instructor presence, resulted in superior post-test performance, less visual attention on the slide, more synchronized eye movements during learning, and higher neural synch

SUBMITTER: Gu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10963011 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature