The Effects of Using a Model-Reinforced Video on Information-Seeking Behaviour

Abstract

This study examined the effects of viewing a ten-minute model-reinforced video on careers information-seeking behaviour of 280 students in ten sections of a university careers course randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. The video portrayed an undergraduate student seeking careers counselling services and a counsellor using modelling, as well as verbal and non-verbal reinforcement, to encourage the student to use information resources (such as books, websites, informational interviews). Participants who viewed the video (the treatment group) reported using a significantly wider variety of information-seeking strategies (reinforced in the video) and using more varied careers resources in completing a research assignment than students in a regular classroom presentation who did not view the video (the control group). They also spent less time seeking information than students in the control group. Implications for the use of the video in future research and practice are discussed.