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

ideas or feelings from participants about certain issue, or examine the factors that affect indi- viduals’ viewpoints or behavior [50]. Previous studies have used focus group studies to evaluate the impacts of videos on students’ online learning [51, 52]. 1.1. Research questions In two previous quantitative studies, we examined students’ perceptions of the theory-related and case-based videos’ content, implementation quality and effectiveness [43, 44]. Generally speaking, the findings of these two studies are very positive. To understand the experience of the students, we conducted the present qualitative study using the focus group method to answer the following three research questions: 1. What are students’ perceptions of the pre-lesson video-watching arrangement? 2. What are students’ perceptions of the quality (i.e., video content and video design) of the theory-related videos and case/scenario-based videos? 3. What are students’ perceptions of the benefits gained from watching the theory-related vid- eos and case/scenario-based videos? 2. Materials and methods The present study used a focus group method to evaluate the perceived quality and effective- ness of 24 instructional videos in a leadership course in a Hong Kong university. Data were collected in Semester 2 of 2021/22 academic year, during which students attended the lectures through an online synchronous teaching mode. Students were asked to watch two to three the- ory-related videos and scenario-based videos before attending the 2-hour online synchronous

lecture (i.e., flipped classroom approach) every week. To gain participation points, students needed to complete the blended learning exercise and have reflections related to the videos before lecture each week. In total, 10 lectures that taught different leadership qualities, includ- ing intrapersonal development (i.e., mental health) and interpersonal development, applied this video watching arrangement. Focus group interviews were conducted at the end of the semester when students had completed all the lectures in the course. 2.1. Research design In terms of the philosophical orientation of this study, a general qualitative research orienta- tion was employed [53, 54]. The general elements of qualitative studies emphasize naturalistic inquiry, personal experience of research participants, empathic neutrality of the researchers, and an inductive analysis approach. Additionally, qualitative studies could examine individual experience or describe common meaning of several individuals’ lived experiences to develop composite description of the essence of participants’ experience [55, 56]. In this study, we focused on developing patterns of meaning from students’ subjective understanding of their experience. The design of interview questions was mainly broad and general, so students were able to express their own understanding of an experience. Besides, focus group interviews allowed meaning to be constructed through students’ interactions with others. We also upheld principles proposed by Shek, Tang and Han [54], including highlighting the philosophical ori-

entation of the study, detailed description of different parameters of the study, building up consensus and triangulation of findings based on different methods. PLOS ONE Qualitative evaluation of virtual teaching and learning videos in leadership education PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291861 September 21, 2023 4 / 28