Examining the Effects of the Utility Value Intervention on Learners’ Emotions and Conceptual Understanding in Online Video-based Learning

In asynchronous online video-based learning, learners experience various affective states, which may make them disengaged and negatively influence learning outcomes. This study aimed to examine the effect of the utility value (UV) intervention to help learners emotionally and behaviorally engage in online learning. The UV intervention includes pre-learning writing activity and UV feedback messages to help learners perceive the relevance between the lecture topic and their lives. In particular, we examined the effects of the UV intervention on learners’ negative emotions (i.e., confusion, frustration, and boredom) and conceptual understanding. For the experiment, 30 Korean adult learners were randomly assigned to the control, feedback-only, and writing-feedback groups. The control group did not receive any UV intervention strategy. The feedback-only group received UV feedback messages when detected to experience negative emotions during learning. The writing-feedback group performed a pre-learning activity to write about the usefulness of the lecture topic and then received UV feedback messages during learning. We used Ekman’s Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to analyze learners’ facial expressions associated with negative emotions. Pre-test and post-test were administered to measure conceptual understanding. The findings revealed that the UV feedback messages significantly reduced the occurrence of boredom while the UV writing did not significantly improve conceptual understanding. Overall, this study suggests that additional strategies and longer timing in UV interventions are necessary to intervene in online learners’ confusion and frustration. Implications are discussed regarding the design of affective feedback mechanisms in online video-based learning environments.