Learning Science and Edpuzzle: The Evidence-Based Framework That Supports Video Learning

At Edpuzzle, everything we do is based on our experience in the classroom and our desire to help students learn in the best way possible.

But did you know that Edpuzzle is also backed by learning science?

If you’re curious as to just what learning science is, take a look at this definition:

“Learning science uses a combination of data, research and practices to discover ways instructors can improve their teaching, while exploring ways to help students learn more effectively. The science of learning draws from many disciplines, such as cognitive neuroscience, data science, learning analytics, educational psychology and behavioral economics.” (11)

Read on to discover how Edpuzzle uses videos, visuals, and flipped instruction to create the perfect learning cocktail!

Video Learning: The First Piece of the Puzzle

As educators, we don’t have to tell you how much your students already seek out and engage with digital content in the form of video. At Edpuzzle, we use that desire as a catalyst for increasing students’ attention and connection with educational content in the classroom. In fact, Digital Promise uses Edpuzzle as the example of how videos should be integrated into learning experiences.

If you haven’t tried it out for yourself yet, Edpuzzle is a web-based platform that provides easy access to high-quality, subject-specific video lessons as well as tools and evidence-based suggestions to edit existing videos, all while improving student engagement and motivation (1, 3). In one place, students and teachers can tap into video-based learning (now commonly known as VBL) (2, 5).

Research shows that video characteristics such as audio and visual cues, subject relevance, narrative speaking style, signaling (explicitly directing the learner’s attention to a particular image, vocabulary term, etc.), and video length all have significant impacts on learner attention, engagement, and outcomes (6).

Embedding guided questions, interactive elements, and salient homework assignments are all also shown to support positive learning outcomes (4, 6).
Edpuzzle combines all of these best practices for learning to maximize lesson content acquisition.

How Edpuzzle Uses Visuals to Support Learning

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the research proves it.

Integrating visual aids (images, pictures, text, etc.) into instruction helps to reduce cognitive load of the learners, which makes the learning process that much more efficient (7, 8). Researchers have discovered that the working memory’s capacity is maximized when instructional content is delivered concurrently through auditory and visual modalities (8).

Let’s take the Edpuzzle Original video lesson on the Kingdom of Aksum as an example.

Copy video.

It starts by supporting the narration with well-known images of a famous city in order to help the student find context and potentially connect to any prior knowledge of this city.

Upon describing the well-known city of Paris as a large bustling creative and business center, students are visually cued to reflect on what other cities might fit this description. Images of likely answers display after the reflection time.

Without any specific narration, the next image provides valuable visual information that guides the student to infer that Aksum may have looked quite different from today’s large, modern cities. Paired with upbeat narration, students are then explicitly told that despite its outward appearance, Aksum was once a major city.

Next, when explaining where Aksum was located, maps and animations help explain the strategic location of Aksum and the neighboring kingdoms that may be more familiar to students.

All of these visual aids are designed to help students learn and retain new information more efficiently.

Making Homework Meaningful With Flipped Instruction

The flipped classroom method consists of taking “the lecture” out of the classroom and assigning it for homework, so class time can be used for practical exercises, answering questions, and more individual time with students. Edpuzzle allows teachers to find or create videos that students can complete at their own pace and at home, in the case of the flipped classroom model.

Compared to reading a textbook, research reveals that a video-based lesson (or VBL) increases learner motivation (2, 3). Edpuzzle leverages the research that shows that the flipped classroom method of instruction yields higher levels of achievement and motivation when compared to traditional methods of instruction (9).

To put the research into practice, Edpuzzle allows teachers to find or create the subject-specific video they need and insert guiding questions throughout the video that check for learner comprehension and support active engagement with the lesson content (4).

Teachers can also record and add custom voice-over to increase understanding while reducing cognitive load and add to or delete sections of each video. When assigning videos for homework, it’s important to keep the length of each learning experience optimized for students’ attention (10). Through the student progress dashboard, teachers can see what students completed in or outside of the classroom and follow up with students who struggled with the material or didn’t complete the lesson.

So what does this all mean in terms of learning science? Edpuzzle allows educators worldwide to meet their students where they are in terms of their cognitive development and preferences for video content. The latest research in learning science in improving memory, increasing student engagement and motivation, and using video has been carefully woven together to improve the learning experience in the classroom, at home, and beyond.

If you’ve done your own research on learning science and Edpuzzle, we’d love to hear it! Share it with the Edpuzzle teaching community on Twitter, and happy teaching!

Learn more about the learning science behind Edpuzzle

References

1. Norton, P., & Hathaway, D. (2010). Video production as an instructional strategy: Content learning and teacher practice. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 10(1), 145-166.

2. Sablić, M., Mirosavljević, A., & Škugor, A. (2021). Video-based learning (VBL)—past, present and future: An overview of the research published from 2008 to 2019. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 26(4), 1061-1077.

3. Sever, S., Oguz-Unver, A., & Yurumezoglu, K. (2013). The effective presentation of inquiry-based classroom experiments using teaching strategies that employ video and demonstration methods. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 29(3).

4. Vural, O. F. (2013). The Impact of a Question-Embedded Video-Based Learning Tool on E-Learning. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(2), 1315-1323.

5. Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R. O., & Nunamaker Jr, J. F. (2006). Instructional video in e-learning: Assessing the impact of interactive video on learning effectiveness. Information & management, 43(1), 15-27.

6. Brame, C. J. (2016). Effective educational videos: Principles and guidelines for maximizing student learning from video content. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 15(4), es6.

7. Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational psychologist, 38(1), 43-52.

8. Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (1999). Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: The role of modality and contiguity. Journal of educational psychology, 91(2), 358.

9. Sezer, B. (2017). The effectiveness of a technology-enhanced flipped science classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 55(4), 471-494.

10. Hibbert, M. C. (2014). What makes an online instructional video compelling?.

11. “Learning Science.” McGraw Hill. Accessed: 5/25/23.