Is there any evidence that students are more likely to watch a video over reading homework? As background, many of my students fall into the "un-prepared" for university category. This has introduced many challenges. Some challenges are easily handled when a student is sincerely interested in learning (they want to know what to read and I guide them appropriately).

More challenging is that these students are not native-speakers of English yet they are studying in English. Again, those who work hard do well. Those who do not work hard, do poorly.

I am looking for a way to encourage ALL students to spend more time outside of class studying. To this end, I am considering composing some videos (a significant time commitment on my part) which will teach material that I do not cover in class. 

This question discusses how to identify the reason students are not doing home work and this questions discusses how to make best use of videos as homework. However, I am asking something different.

I have done some surveying of students and many of them say that they prefer watching videos over reading. What I really want to know is whether anyone has seen or has researched the increased likelihood that a student will actually follow the homework because it is a video as opposed to in a textual format.

I do not want to get into the issues of punishment here. The students generally know that less homework = lower scores but they think they can still pass and that is all they care about. Sadly, I care more about their education than they do.
It's been a while since I was a student, but I think it's still worth saying this:

I find it easier (as in less effort) to just sit through a video than read a book.  

But: If I actually want to learn something or I have a specific task to solve, I find the linear format of videos extremely constraining, and I find them frustratingly slow.  Like most people, I read much faster than normal talking speed. I can also skim texts easily, and find the relevant part, or go back and check a formula again.  This is not possible with videos.  There's a reason for taking notes in class instead of just recording it: a recording is not going to be useful for preparing for the exam.

You mentioned that many of your students are not native speakers of English.  This is a big reason to avoid videos in favour of written material.  I am not a native speaker either, and even though for the past few years English was the language I used the most, I still prefer watching English-speaking films with English subtitles.  When watching videos there will always, always be at least a few words I can't catch or I can only comprehend with a few seconds' delay.  Listening is simply more work for my brain than reading, and makes it just a little bit harder to pay attention to the content.



My personal opinion on the matter (no more than an opinion!) is that some students are indeed more likely to watch videos than read texts.  But that's only because it feels like less effort to them.  In reality videos are going to be less efficient at communicating information.  They will require significantly more time commitment from you and they will require more time commitment from motivated students as well, who would be able to learn faster from written material.  But yes: I do think unmotivated students are more likely to watch a video than to read  a text.

Personally I find it very frustrating when the only material available is a video because it just slows me down and forces me to take notes I wouldn't need to take if I already had written material ...