2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Comparison of Video Content for Clarity, Usefulness, and Relevance

Presented at ME Technical Session 1 - Enhancing Mechanical Engineering Education: From Prerequisites to Practice

The Gulf Coast Center of Excellence (GCCoE) at a large R1 Southwestern University in the USA has been developing curriculum material to advocate energy efficiency within the industrial sector. This initiative aims to educate the industrial workforce and students on best practices for energy conservation. The training curriculum provides a variety of materials, such as information videos, how-to conduct-a-task videos, assessment calculators, worksheets, and lectures. Also, the curriculum is prepared for various settings such as community colleges, college curricula, training modules for industry practitioners, workshops, and online professional development courses. One major type of curriculum material is information videos, which provide topic's basic understanding. Designed for students and the industrial workforce, these videos must be clear, engaging, useful, and enhance learning. Due to the variation in the participant experience, we created two video versions on the same topic. Version 1 relies on traditional PowerPoint-style slides with text and audio for a more conventional learning experience. Version 2 embeds recorded videos and relevant images to enhance visual comprehension. This study aims to evaluate these two video versions and identify which version serves the basic purposes of clarity, usefulness, and relevance for students. The following research question guides this study: Which video version demonstrates greater clarity, usefulness, and relevance in explaining key energy-saving concepts? The data were collected from 7 participants using a post-survey after each video. The survey consisted of three 5-point Likert scale questions focusing on clarity, usefulness, and material relevance. In this paper, data is analyzed using a multi-method approach. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey responses, and conventional qualitative content analysis was employed to examine participants' feedback, providing deeper insights to support the quantitative findings. This study is part of a larger research project and will enable the GCCoE to develop curriculum material that resonates with the participants. Further, the gained insights will help select the right design choices for future videos. Moreover, the insight will guide in getting feedback for improvements in curriculum material clarity, usefulness, and relevance of material.

Authors

Mr. Umer Farooq Texas A&M University [biography]

Umer Farooq is a Ph.D. student in the Multidisciplinary Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, with a focus on Engineering Education. Umer is part of the Learning Enhancement and Applications Development Lab (LEAD Lab). Umer contributes to research initiatives centered on educational, instructional, and workforce development in the manufacturing sector. His efforts align with the mission of the Texas A&M University Gulf Coast Center of Excellence (GCCoE), where he collaborates on projects aimed at enhancing learning experiences for students, trainees, and professionals.
Hannah Farias Texas A&M University [biography]

Hannah Farias is a first-year master's student in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M. She is passionate about energy generation, consumption, and reduction, as well as engineering education. In her time with the Gulf Coast Center of Excellence at Texas A&M, she hopes to develop high quality tools, videos, and educational curriculum that will enable students and industrial workers to make changes that will reduce energy waste.
Mr. Digvijaysinh Barad Texas A&M University
Matt Elliott
Dr. Bryan P. Rasmussen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7342-2851 Texas A&M University [biography]

Dr. Bryan Rasmussen is the Leland T. Jordan Professor II of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received his B.S. degree from Utah State University in 2000, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002 and 2005. His research focuses on intelligent building and industrial energy systems. He is also the director of the Texas A&M Industrial Assessment Center, a US Dept. of Energy program that trains students to conduct energy audits for industrial manufacturing facilities. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.
Dr. Saira Anwar http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6947-3226 Texas A&M University [biography]

Saira Anwar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University, USA. The Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and industry sponsors fund her research. Her research potential and the implication of her work are recognized through national and international awards, including the 2023 NSTA/NARST Research Worth Reading award for her publication in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2023 New Faculty Fellow award by IEEE ASEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2022 Apprentice Faculty Grant award by the ERM Division, ASEE, and 2020 outstanding researcher award by the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University. Dr. Anwar has over 20 years of teaching experience at various national and international universities, including the Texas A and M University - USA, University of Florida - USA, and Forman Christian College University - Pakistan. She also received outstanding teacher awards in 2013 and 2006. Also, she received the "President of Pakistan Merit and Talent Scholarship" for her undergraduate studies.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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