1.) N is in the hundreds of students, all with similar backgrounds - likely a highly specific population. It may not generalize well.
2.) The videos were pretty short: 3-15 minutes long.
3.) The overall effect size is pretty miniscule - it would make little practical difference.
4.) The video topics were roman history and real estate appraisals.
It will be interesting to see if this generalizes (to longer durations, more technical topics, more diverse population, etc.), but given the above I wouldn't change any personal habits based on this study.
My problem is that they're studying retention, not mastery. Like how would this work for math or science lecture at the senior or graduate level?
In a more radical way I almost think playing a video in any nonlinear, noncontinuous fashion would have learning advantages because what matters isn't what you passively remember from the lecture but the amount of work you spend actively thinking about the material.
5) Retention is vastly different than comprehension and integration with other knowledge.
I often am thinking about the applications of knowledge during a lecture. I am currently listening to an economic history course and the last lecture I compared the foolish inefficiencies of 16th century mercantilism tarrifs to the new modern ones of the last few years.
I would take this with a giant grain of salt:
1.) N is in the hundreds of students, all with similar backgrounds - likely a highly specific population. It may not generalize well.
2.) The videos were pretty short: 3-15 minutes long.
3.) The overall effect size is pretty miniscule - it would make little practical difference.
4.) The video topics were roman history and real estate appraisals.
It will be interesting to see if this generalizes (to longer durations, more technical topics, more diverse population, etc.), but given the above I wouldn't change any personal habits based on this study.