Effects of a Collaborative Storytelling Video Project on Students' Affective Learning Outcomes in a Social Science Class

This paper discusses the effects of technology-enhanced learning on students’ affective learning outcomes. The empirical study is conducted with an interdisciplinary group of bachelor students at the Faculty of Social Sciences in a Nordic University. Two group assignments are compared: a collaborative storytelling video project and a face-to-face group presentation. The groups prepared the video project in four steps (forming groups, choosing the object of study, elaborating the script, and the final submission). There was no step-by-step guidance for the face-to-face presentation. The time allowed for preparing the video and the presentation was the same. Based on the concept of student engagement, a survey was designed to evaluate the impact of the video project assignment on students’. The survey was administered using SurveyXact, and 22 students participated in the survey. The results demonstrate that the video project supported each of the three components of student engagement. From the point of view of behavioral engagement, the video project allowed asynchronous collaboration, and the chosen online video editor was a good support for the team project. Moreover, working on the task step-by-step made it easier for the students to accomplish the project successfully. From the perspective of emotional engagement, students enjoyed preparing the video project overall, and also considered this assignment more interesting than the face-to-face presentation. Finally, the video assignment demonstrated to be beneficial for students’ cognitive engagement as it allowed them to express their opinions in a more confident and creative way than the face-to-face presentation. Moreover, the students considered the video project as a resourceful output for preparing for the final exam. The paper also discusses the aspects that could make the assignment more engaging, namely, guidance on the use of technology, group size, task instructions, and role assignment in the groups.