Affective video and problem solving within a Web-environment

Currently there is a growing interest in Web-based multimedia learning environments, particularly those making use of asynchronous streaming video. This interest motivates renewed attention to properties of video for educational purposes. A typical property of video is its emotion-evoking potential. Research by Isen, Daubman, and Nowicki (1987), Kaufmann and Vosburg (1997) and by Vosburg (1998) on video-evoked positive or negative mood states inspired a research project on the didactical functionality of emotion-evoking video materials in relationship to (educational) problem solving tasks within a Web-based environment. The results show that the video materials that were used in the experiment induced the expected positive or negative mood. Differential effects of positive or negative mood for problem solving tasks, however, were not observed. This outcome is discussed in the context of the findings of the above-mentioned authors.