Enhancing Graduate Studies with Interactive Videos: Uncovering Student and Instructor Perspectives on Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Future Intentions

Abstract

Laboratory-based courses and research studies play a crucial role in many fields in higher education. With the idea that the creation and use of interactive materials of experimental periods can be a potentially transformative teaching and learning experience, graduate students and instructors have been trained to design and integrate interactive videos as part of their experimental studies. This study aimed to explore self-efficacy, motivation and future intentions of graduate student and instructors to develop and use interactive videos as a learning material. Using a mixed-method approach via a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, data were collected from graduate students and instructors before and after face-to-face/online trainings on the design and use of interactive videos. Data were analyzed descriptively for the survey items on motivation and perceptions on the use of interactive videos for graduate experiments. For the interview data, the data were analyzed based on specific themes. The results showed that the self-efficacy of the participants have been increased and they had high motivation and strong intention to use interactive videos for a number of reasons. As the participants' self-efficacy has improved, they reported positive perceptions regarding the contributions of interactive videos to their understanding of experimental processes. The findings showed that graduate students shooting an experimental process with their presence can yield better learning outcomes for other graduate students. The results can be valuable for demonstrating potential use of interactive videos during laboratory-based educational and research contexts.