Author(s) :

Qingduo Zeng.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

After the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has gained popularity. On major video platforms, there are 2 major types of educational videos: animation (concepts are demonstrated by cartoon characters and pictures) and video with real-human presence (a recorded PowerPoint lecture). However, little research has been conducted to study which one will be better for students. Also, most of the studies about the type of educational videos used high school students and college students as their participants. There aren’t many studies that select primary school kids as their participants. Therefore, considering the gap, this study aims to investigate the impact of educational video display style (animation vs. video with real-human presence) on elementary school kids. The experiment was conducted using 68 third-grade students (two classes) from an elementary school in Beijing. The two classes are randomly assigned to watch either an animation or a video with a real human presence about prime and composite numbers. Both classes are given baseline assessments before the video and posttest assessments after the video. The scores for the tests are used to measure their learning effect. The animation group showed significantly greater improvement (M = 2.52, SD = 2.37) than the real-human group (M = 1.66, SD = 2.68). Video type significantly predicted posttest scores (b = −1.116, p = 0.047, R² = 0.097). To conclude, animation might serve as a more effective type of educational video for elementary school children.