Research is needed to understand how to best design video lectures that foster learning. We tested whether instructor presence is better afforded through methods that increase students' access to the instructor's eye gaze, thereby enhancing learning through increased social agency. Specifically, we compared the eye-gaze behavior of college students who viewed an organic chemistry video lecture with the instructor using either a conventional whiteboard or a transparent whiteboard. These lecture methods differ in the degree to which they allow students to view the instructor's eye gaze. Using eye-tracking methods, we compared students' attention to the instructor's head during direct gaze events (i.e., when the instructor looked into the camera) and gaze guidance events (i.e., when the instructor looked at the whiteboard), and to the written and drawn information on the whiteboard. Results show that students who viewed a transparent whiteboard lecture attended more to the instructor and less to the material drawn on the board than students who viewed a conventional whiteboard lecture. The transparent group also performed equivalently to the conventional group on learning performance. Overall, this study demonstrates that the instructor's presence can compete with words and visuals drawn on the board by the instructor for students' attention.

Research is needed to understand how best to design online videos that foster learning. This study explored the effects of using transparent whiteboards, which allow the instructor to stand behind a transparent glass board and face the students to write and draw while providing a concurrent explanation of the material. Specifically, the affordances of transparent whiteboard lessons might better follow design principles of multimedia learning and foster social agency compared to conventional whiteboard lessons, thereby promoting learning. In two experiments, college students viewed a 20-min Organic Chemistry video lecture with the instructor using either a conventional whiteboard or a transparent whiteboard. Results indicated that students who viewed transparent whiteboard lessons performed better on immediate posttests (Experiment 1 and 2) at interpreting the configuration of spatial diagrams and at explaining key concepts. Students viewing transparent whiteboard lessons also reported more positive ratings of their lecture experience. However, Experiment 2 indicated that the benefits of learning from transparent whiteboards did not persist on a delayed posttest. Overall, this study provides the first systematic investigation of the effects of using transparent whiteboards in video-based instruction.