Abstract:

A wide variety of studies have highlighted the positive effects of the use of instructional videos on the learning process. Nevertheless, some other studies have shown mixed results regarding the use video-supported learning, arguing that the simply incorporation of video-clips into the learning process may not guarantee better learning outcomes. Thus, the study of the effective use of instructional videos still represents a challenge in educational research. This study examines the instructional value of online video lectures in a context of blended-learning, where instructors prepare videos to supplement classroom lectures in macroeconomics. These videos show the graphical analyses and the economic processes explained in basic and intermediate macroeconomics, being available for public diffusion through YouTube. Specifically, this paper presents the results of a study based on a wide sample of students in the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies at University of Seville (Spain) regarding their use of YouTube instructional videos as learning material. In our case-study, teaching of introductory and intermediate macroeconomics is basically developed by using concatenated graphical analyses that represent dynamic processes involved in moving from one macroeconomic equilibrium to another. Despite lecturers' efforts in classroom lectures to guarantee learning effectiveness, students often show difficulties at understanding and retaining graphical representations and dynamic processes. A possible explanation may be found on the static nature of learning materials (basically, books and student's notes taken during lectures). In this regard, offering dynamic online videos to the students as complement material may help to improve students' understanding and thereby, their academic performance.

With the aim to assess the use of video-supported learning at teaching macroeconomics, a group of lecturers at University of Seville has initiated a project based on the development of video clips to illustrate dynamic graphical representations of macroeconomic processes. These videos will serve as complement learning materials to face-to-face classroom sessions, which could help to improve students' understanding and thereby, their academic performance. Therefore, the project aims to add new empirical evidence on the relationship between effective learning and the use of online video-clips as teaching medium through the use of the YouTube platform. In this sense, the potential for the use of this online platform has been highlighted as an important area of research.

On a preliminary phase, this study shows the results obtained by a preliminary questionnaire designed to analyse student perceptions and attitudes towards YouTube as educational tool and video clips as adequate learning material to be included in the course curriculum. With this aim, a wide sample of students of introductory and intermediate courses of macroeconomics have fulfilled an ad-hoc questionnaire that will serve to design the video-clips that are now under production and will be tested during the academic year (2018-2019). Main results obtained from interviewed students are presented and discussed in this paper. Findings indicate that a significant number of students use YouTube videos as a helpful tutoring resource and benefit from improved-learning experience.

Keywords:

Instructional videos, blended-learning, YouTube, macroeconomics.