The Effects of Social Cues in Self-Produced Micro Video Lectures on Parasocial Interaction, Motivational Interest, Extraneous Cognitive Load, and Concept Learning Performance: an Empirical Study in a Junior High School

Background and Aim: Videos are popular in the dissemination of knowledge at scale, which can be seen in various video-based platforms and educational disruption. However, inconsistent results were reported in studies. This research is designed to determine the effectiveness of social cues in self-produced micro video lectures on parasocial interaction, motivational interest, extraneous cognitive load, and concept learning performance and the relationship among them. Materials and Methods: Self-produced videos for learning concepts of morality and the rule of law in junior high schools were used as the treatment. Tests were used to determine concept learning performance and Likert scales were utilized to collect information on the other three variables. 248 students from the eighth grade in a public school were involved in the sample. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze differences among groups, and path analysis as well as was adopted to determine the relationship between variables. Results: There was no significant difference among the four groups on each variable. Parasocial interaction has a significant positive impact on motivational interest, motivational interest has a negative significant impact on extraneous cognitive load, and extraneous cognitive load has a negative significant impact on concept learning performance. Conclusion: The effects of the increment of types of social cues can be ignored in 6-minute self-produced video lectures. Students’ parasocial interaction can influence concept learning performance via the mediation of the cognition process and motivational factors. The extraneous cognitive load decreases with the stimulation of the motivational interest.