Learning With Video in Psychology Classes: Correlates of Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Outcomes and Cognitive Load

Psychology lectures are increasingly “flipped.” In flipped classrooms, students are often provided with videos for the first contact with new learning contents. It is hypothesized that the way students use the video affects the success of flipping the classroom. In two studies, in which students studied evidence-based learning strategies by video, we explored potential relations between learning outcomes, cognitive load, and the ways learners handled the video. In Study 1 ( N = 180) all participants regulated their learning themselves, whereas in Study 2 ( N = 110) the degree of self-regulation was experimentally manipulated by adding intermittent questions to the video. Results point to a differentiated perspective on factors fostering self-regulated learning with videos. Unsurprisingly, in Study 1, time spent with the video correlated positively and significantly with cognitive learning outcome, and germane cognitive load correlated positively with the confidence in correct judgments. In Study 2, extraneous load was higher in the self-regulation group than in the experimental group in which the handling of the video was structured by intermittent questions. Nevertheless, only in the latter group, extraneous load correlated negatively with indices of metacognitive monitoring. The results will be discussed in the context of video-based flipped classroom arrangements in teaching psychology.