“There was already a rich array of findings about how to bring multimedia into education to increase student learning and motivation,” said Deslauriers. “What Greg brings which no one else has is a unique combination of expertise in physics, video production, and cognitive psychology of multimedia presentations.”

The investigators identified several ingredients in improving learning through online demonstrations. A number of these advantages relied on the filmmaker’s ability to set the demonstrations in slow motion, the use of graphics to visualize abstract concepts, and the ability to direct attention to the most important features to prevent information overload.

For the study, they split an introductory physics class into two groups. The first watched a video of a short science demonstration in a classroom setting, while the other group saw the experiment live in the same classroom. They then flipped the groups and performed a second demonstration to reduce bias. Although the demos were virtually identical, the group who first saw the live presentation watched gestures, blackboard illustrations, and physical props, such as large wooden arrows, while the group who viewed video demos followed superimposed graphics, slow-motion video, and animations. In the end, students from both groups who watched the online video scored higher on tests on the material presented, without any reported decrease in enthusiasm.

“Students don’t always know where to focus their attention in live demonstrations, even with a chalkboard and props, but in a video format we can highlight and zoom in on particular parts by setting narration at just the right moment to reinforce learning. A video can also present contrasting cases, which is known as a potent learning tool,” said Deslauriers.

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“Lecture demos have been a core component of STEM courses for over 100 years, but not every school has the resources for them,” said Kestin. “We wanted to understand how much students were learning in video demos in the hopes that with the right support we can bring the same excitement to schools everywhere.”

The paper’s co-authors also include former graduate student Kristina Callaghan, who now teaches physics and conducts science education research at the University of California, Merced.