Keywords
artificial intelligence
higher education
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Copyright (c) 2025 Julia Jochim, Cecilia Post, Ricarda Bolten-Bühler
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
In the 21st century, educators in higher education may chose from a diverse array of tools for creating instructional videos, ranging from professionally produced studio recordings to animation software and AI-driven solutions featuring synthetic voices and avatars. This study employs a mixed-methods approach to explore how different video formats influence students’ perceived learning effectiveness, engagement, and interest, with the goal of identifying format preferences. The quantitative analysis reveals no significant differences in these factors across most formats, with only one exception. However, qualitative findings indicate a preference for videos featuring real-life actors and cartoon-style animations, although AI-generated voices and avatars are generally not perceived to be disruptive or distracting. Moreover, format preferences appear to be content-dependent: real actors are favoured for complex or interpersonal topics, whereas animated formats are preferred for more general content. These findings provide valuable insights for educational media creators, helping them to design more effective instructional videos for higher education.
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