Use of instructional videos in leadership education in higher education under COVID-19: A qualitative study

RESEARCH ARTICLE Use of instructional videos in leadership education in higher education under COVID- 19: A qualitative study Daniel T. L. ShekID*, Tingyin WongID, Xiang Li, Lu Yu Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China * daniel.shek@polyu.edu.hk Abstract The use of online teaching mode has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly under the COVID-19 pandemic. To promote the learning motivation of students and teaching effec- tiveness, development of attractive online teaching material such as videos is important. In the present study, we developed 15 theory-related videos and 9 case-based videos in the context of a leadership course focusing on psychological well-being and psychosocial com- petence. Using a qualitative research methodology via focus groups (N = 48 students) to evaluate these videos, six themes emerged from the data, including video arrangement, design of videos, content of videos, benefits to students’ pre-lesson self-learning, benefits to students’ learning of course content, and contribution to students’ class participation. The findings suggest that the videos can elicit positive perceptions of the students in a flipped classroom arrangement. Students also benefit from the videos in terms of their understand- ing of course content and their participation in class discussion. Besides, the study suggests that the videos promote the learning efficiency of the students. The present qualitative find-

ings concurred with the previous quantitative findings, suggesting the value of using virtual teaching and learning to promote psychosocial competence in university students. 1. Introduction The use of online teaching mode in higher education institutions has grown rapidly in recent years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 5.5 million students in the U.S. were enrolled in one or more postsecondary-level courses through online channels [1]. Researchers highlighted that studies on video-based learning has increased significantly after 2006 because of the increased use of videos in higher education sector, both as a supplementary materials for face-to-face lectures or as the main way to deliver online education content [2, 3]. During the early phrase of the pandemic, videos played a key role in sustaining teaching and learning in higher education [4]. For example, in Beijing Normal University, 3238 out of the 4036 courses in February 2020 were offered online [5]. With the increased use of digital device and various online pedagogies (e.g., videos and virtual reality), students may benefit from flexible online PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291861 September 21, 2023 1 / 28 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Shek DTL, Wong T, Li X, Yu L (2023) Use of instructional videos in leadership education in higher education under COVID-19: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE 18(9): e0291861. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0291861 Editor: Ehsan Namaziandost, Ahvaz Jundishapur

University: Ahvaz Jondishapour University of Medical Sciences, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN Received: June 14, 2023 Accepted: September 6, 2023 Published: September 21, 2023 Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291861 Copyright: © 2023 Shek et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, Prof. Daniel Shek (email address: daniel.shek@polyu.edu.hk), Chair