Is This a Helpful YouTube Video? A Research-Based Framework for Evaluating and Developing Conceptual Chemistry Instructional Videos

The advent of sites such as YouTube
has allowed learners
to access
videos to support their classroom learning. Given the varying quality
and content of chemistry instructional videos, identifying and selecting
appropriate videos can be challenging for both instructors and students.
This article aims to summarize education research important for creating
videos to support students’ conceptual chemistry learning and
identify ways these criteria can be operationalized for use in the
framework to evaluate or guide the development of instructional videos
focused on conceptual understanding of chemistry topics. The framework
helps the user consider the chemistry content of the video through
the lenses of the disciplinary Core Ideas, Science Practices, causal
mechanistic reasoning, and Johnstone’s Triangle. It also includes
design considerations from Mayer’s multimedia theory and considerations
for accessibility. Finally, we summarize findings and insights gained
from using the framework to evaluate a set of 25 highly viewed or
highly relevant YouTube videos related to Le Chatelier’s Principle.