Using YouTube Videos as a Primer to Affect Academic Content Retention

Abstract

College students today watch more content, academic or not, on the Internet than on any other media. Consequently, the authors argue that using any of these media, especially YouTube .com in particular, is an effective way to not only reach students, but also capture their attention and interest while increasing retention of academic content. Using a 2 X 2 between subjects controlled experiment, our study found that funny videos, which are congruent with course subject matter, improve student acquisition and material retention. Suggestions also are offered on how to source and integrate the videos into course content with an emphasis on the importance of matching the selection of video content with the intended effects on student learning.