Investigating the role of YouTube tutorials as an in-class supporting material in teaching and learning research methodology

Abstract

Research methodology is one of the most important modules taught in higher education, hence a considerable amount of effort is put at teaching it effectively. Yet in spite of this, students at Abdelhamid Ibn Badis University are still facing difficulties and struggling when it comes to understanding and mastering this craft. One of the attempts to make teaching and learning this module more effective is the integration of YouTube tutorials as a supporting material in teaching it. YouTube tutorials are a special type of YouTube videos in the sense that a YouTube tutorial teaches by the actual doing or use of something in action rather than with simply giving theories, definitions, or ideas about it. In other words, YouTube tutorials are to provide practical rather than theoretical information about a certain topic. Today, many researchers in the field of education claim that YouTube videos in general can enhance students’ 21st century skills including; critical thinking, collaboration, active learning, communication, creativity, and so on, which as a consequence result in a better and more effective learning. Yet there has been no previous work that proves or disapproves the effectiveness of YouTube tutorials specifically in teaching research methodology. This study hence, is to investigate the role of YouTube tutorials in teaching and learning research methodology at Abdelhamid Ibn Badis University, Mostaganem. Its main objective is to unveil the effectiveness of YouTube tutorials in improving students’ understanding of research methodology module. Also it seeks to determine whether or not those clips help enhance and develop the 21st century trends and skills as well as attempting to collect data about students’ perceptions and feedback about the use of YouTube tutorials in teaching the craft of research methodology. For this purpose, a mixed method design was adopted to answer the questions of this investigation, including an experiment, a questionnaire, and an observation as the tools utilized in gathering the data. The results revealed the effectiveness of YouTube tutorials in teaching research methodology.