The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of a constructivist approach to context-based video instruction for enhancing learning. To achieve this purpose, the authors examined whether video-based instruction that was developed using constructivist theory can affect student learning (i.e., comprehension and retention) and motivation (i.e., attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) by comparing learners' perceptions of both video-based instruction and traditional text-based instruction in an online context-based lesson. There was a significant difference in learners' motivation in terms of attention between the video-based instruction and traditional text-based instruction. In addition, the learners reported that the video-based instruction was more memorable than the traditional text-based instruction. This study implies that context-based videos in online courses have the potential to enhance learners' retention and motivation.