Interactive Videos Enhance Learning about Socio-Ecological Systems

Abstract

Two forms of interactive video were assessed in an online course focused on conservation. The hypothesis was that interactive video enhances student perceptions about learning and improves mental models of social-ecological systems. Results showed that students reported greater learning and attitudes toward the subject following interactive video. Moreover, metrics of network complexity applied to students' concept maps of socio-ecological systems increased longitudinally through the course highlighting greater awareness of socio-ecological linkages. We conclude that interactive video can increase awareness of interdisciplinary connections in socio-ecological systems and should be more widely employed in general education geography courses.

Key Words:

• digital storytelling
• conservation
• networks
• concept maps
• mental map

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erica Smithwick

Erica Smithwick is an associate professor of geography at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, and is graduate faculty in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her research interests include landscape ecology, conservation, and socio-ecological systems, from local to global scales.

Emily Baxter

Emily Baxter is a learning designer at the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. Her research interests include mindfulness in education, student engagement, and the efficacy of video-based online instruction.

Kyung Kim

Kyung Kim is a doctoral candidate in learning, design, and technology at the College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. His research interest is in formative structural assessment in online learning courses and he has worked on measures and applications of knowledge structure in various learning environments.

Stephanie Edel-Malizia

Stephanie Edel-Malizia is an instructional designer at Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. Her research interests include engaged learning, blended learning, and teaching with technology.

Stevie Rocco

Stevie Rocco is the assistant director for learning design at the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute at Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. Her research focuses on open education resources and assessment in higher education.

Dean Blackstock

Dean Blackstock is the streaming media application administrator for Penn State Outreach & Online Education, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. He has over a decade of experience designing and developing educational multimedia for online and blended learners.