Advance organizers in videos for software training of Chinese students

The effectiveness of demonstration-based training (DBT) videos for software training has been investigated for a Western audience. These studies have generally found that the demonstration videos significantly enhanced self-efficacy and task performance, but also that there was a gap between task practice and learning with the latter lagging behind. The present study investigated the effectiveness of DBT-videos for software training of Chinese students. The control condition presented demonstrations only. In the experimental condition demonstrations were preceded with advance organizers that aimed to enhance learning. The 61 participants (mean age 11.8 years) came from a middle school in China. Data analyses revealed that self-efficacy significantly improved in both conditions. Task performance success also increased significantly over time. The familiar gap between task practice and learning was found between task practice and outcomes on an immediate post-test. However, on the delayed post-test this difference had disappeared. An effect of the advance organizer was found for accuracy of the self-efficacy appraisals, and for gain scores from pretest to delayed post-test. It is concluded that DBT-based demonstration videos are moderately effective for software training of Chinese students, and that it can be beneficial to precede these with advance organizers.