Effect of metacognitive strategies and verbal-imagery cognitive style on biology-based video search and learning performance

Videos have diverse content that can assist students in learning. However, because videos are linear media, video users may take a longer time than readers of text to evaluate the context. Therefore, the process of video search may vary from one user to another depending on the users' individual characteristics, and the effectiveness of video learning may also vary across individuals. This study evaluated 100 Taiwanese fifth graders searching for videos related to “understanding animals” on YouTube and examined the effects of the students' metacognitive strategies (planning, monitoring, and evaluating) and verbal-imagery cognitive style on their video searches. The observable indicators were quantitative (search behaviors, search performance, and learning performance) and qualitative (search process observations and interviews). The study concludes that metacognitive strategy is the primary influencer of video search. Students with better metacognitive skills used fewer keywords, browsed fewer videos, and spent less time evaluating videos, but they achieved higher learning performance. They reviewed the video metadata information on the user interface and did not attempt to watch videos on the video recommendation lists, particularly videos that were irrelevant to the task requirements. During the course of the searches, keyword usage had a significant influence on the students' search performance and learning performance. The fewer keywords the students used, the better search and learning performance they were able to achieve. Our results are different from those of previous studies on text, image, and map searches. Accordingly, users must adopt different search strategies when using various types of search engines.