Narrative, Platform, Pedagogy: Assessing YouTube’s Role in Teaching Historical and Philosophical Texts

Abstract

This quantitative study explores the pedagogical impact of YouTube as a narrative-based digital tool in teaching historically and philosophically rich texts within an English Language and Literature course. Anchored in interdisciplinary frameworks of digital literacy, narrative theory, and historical thinking, the research examines student perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of YouTube-integrated instruction. A total of 257 undergraduate students participated by completing a Likert-type scale survey. Statistical analyses, including independent-samples t-tests, point-biserial correlations, and multiple regression, were conducted to assess the influence of gender and age. While gender differences were not statistically significant, age was found to be a meaningful predictor for perceived disadvantages, with younger students reporting greater difficulty engaging with asynchronous video-based content. These findings highlight the importance of scaffolded digital pedagogy that accounts for learner variability and promotes critical engagement through narrative. The study contributes to the discourse on technology-mediated instruction in the humanities and underscores YouTube’s potential as an inclusive pedagogical platform for interdisciplinary learning.