Considerable research suggests a link between mind wandering and diminished levels of motivation and interest. During episodes of mind wandering, individuals may engage in efforts to redirect their attention back to the task at hand (known as focus back effort). Building on the resource-control hypothesis, we hypothesized that the influence of…

The spatial contiguity principle is that people learn and perform better when corresponding printed text and graphics are placed near rather than far from each other on the screen or page. This is a well-established design principle in multimedia learning. However, there is insufficient research to establish the appropriate distance between text…

Objectives: To examine college students' conflicting COVID-19 information exposure, information-seeking, concern, and cognitive functioning. Participants: 179 undergraduates were recruited in March-April 2020, and 220 in September 2020 (Samples 1 and 2, respectively). Methods: Students completed the Attention Network Test, NASA Task Load Index,…

Background: In multimedia learning environments, pedagogical agents have emerged as an innovative tool to enhance digital instruction, yet optimising their design for maximal learning effectiveness remains underexplored. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate how specific design elements of pedagogical agents, namely appearance and voice…

Previous research suggests that learning from combined textual and pictorial representations is generally more effective than from text alone. However, when these elements are spatially separated, learners must mentally integrate them, increasing cognitive load. According to cognitive load theory, such split-attention formats are less effective…

Purpose: Understanding children's speech perception strategies in noise is very important for improving their living environment. Previous studies with adults reported that closing the eyes improves speech understanding in noise by increasing the activation of cortical systems involved in listening and attention, while increased cognitive load…

This study tested the notion that the impact of clarity (i.e., structure) on learning is indirect and occurs, in part, through the reduction of cognitive load and subsequently through students' motivation to process instructional information. Two hundred fifty-two students were randomly assigned to one of two text-based lessons (clear or unclear)…

This study explored 54 preservice elementary teachers' identification and modification of mathematical tasks in raising cognitive demand and examined the features of their modified tasks. The study collected data using a three-phase activity: (a) identifying the level of cognitive demand of the given task, (b) modifying the low cognitive demand…

This paper studies the effect of learning efficiency through various animations in conjunction with instructional teaching of traditional Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) crafts projects. The germane cognitive load (GCL) is defined as an investment in cognitive resources for schema development and automation. This study employs four…

Mental health education in colleges and universities has made considerable progress, but the existing assessment model still faces challenges in terms of time overhead and rank indicators. In response, this paper proposes a new psychological education assessment model for colleges and universities, based on multimedia feature extraction…

The designs of gamification platforms are diverse and constantly evolving. Excessive use of various game mechanisms in learning platforms can distract from the learning process. However, the fit of game mechanisms is still uncertain. Thus, this study investigates the effect of achieving fit when implementing game mechanisms on learning outcomes by…

We investigated the relations between self-reported math anxiety, task difficulty, and pupil dilation in adults and very young children during math tasks of varying difficulty levels. While task difficulty significantly influenced pupillary responses in both groups, the association between self-reported math anxiety and pupil dilation differed…

This convergent parallel mixed methods study with qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted to analyze and describe the cognitive complexity of the publicly released Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Exam questions compared to the language of higher-order thinking found in research literature. Hess' Cognitive Rigor…

This study examines the embodied ways in which learners monitor their cognition while learning about exponential functions in an immersive virtual reality (VR) based game, "Pandemic" by Prisms of Reality. Traditionally, metacognitive monitoring has been assessed through behavioural traces and verbalised instances. When learning in VR,…

This study evaluated the effect of using AR technology to develop environmental literacy (RQ1), motivation (RQ2), and perceived cognitive load (RQ3) among high school students. The sample of participants in this study included 155 10th -grade students in general education. They took a semester-long Natural Resource Ecology course. The participants…