A Narrative Approach to Educational Video Training
For centuries, some of the greatest educators (e.g., Aristotle and Aesop) have promoted storytelling as a vehicle for disseminating knowledge. Narrative techniques used to share information have been studied in academic disciplines such as marketing, communication, and medicine. However, little research exists examining the impact of narrative videos on the development and retention of declarative or procedural knowledge. In addition to this, virtually no one has employed this type of educational narrative video to individuals in technical- or practical-based education settings such as with dental assistants or other medical technicians. Additional research is necessary to investigate the effects of narrative-based instructional videos on the retention of knowledge in technician students such as dental assistants. The aim of the proposed study is to investigate the impact of a five-act narrative inserted into an educational training video on learning outcomes in dental assistants. A pre/posttest two-group experimental study, with additional qualitative measures inserted, will examine the efficacy of narrative-based instructional video content with a five-act narrative and without a narrative on the development and retention of declarative and procedural knowledge in dental assistant students.
