Digital ink and differentiated subjective ratings for cognitive load measurement in middle childhood

Abstract

Background: New methods are constantly being developed to adapt cognitive load measurement to different contexts. However, research on middle childhood students' cognitive load measurement is rare. Research indicates that the three cognitive load dimensions (intrinsic, extraneous, and germane) can be measured well in adults and teenagers using differentiated subjective rating instruments. Moreover, digital ink recorded by smartpens could serve as an indicator for cognitive load in adults. Aims: With the present research, we aimed at investigating the relation between subjective cognitive load ratings, velocity and pressure measures recorded with a smartpen, and performance in standardized sketching tasks in middle childhood students. Sample: Thirty-six children (age 7-12) participated at the university's laboratory. Methods: The children performed two standardized sketching tasks, each in two versions. The induced intrinsic cognitive load or the extraneous cognitive load was varied between the versions. Digital ink was recorded while the children drew with a smartpen on real paper and after each task, they were asked to report their perceived intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load using a newly developed 5-item scale. Results: Results indicated that cognitive load ratings as well as velocity and pressure measures were substantially related to the induced cognitive load and to performance in both sketching tasks. However, cognitive load ratings and smartpen measures were not substantially related.

Integrating cognitive load theory with other theories, within and beyond educational psychology

“…The multi-item scales show more consistent results, all in the predicted directions by CLT. This is observed in the two contributions ( Jiang et al, 2023;Schrader & Kalyuga, 2023) employing the scale by Leppink et al (2013), and the two contributions (Altmeyer et al, 2023;Endres et al, 2023) using the scale by Klepsch et al (2017).…”

“…The need for complementary data has led CLT researchers to look for objective cognitive load instruments, particularly those that are easy to implement in a learning setting. Two contributions from this special issue (Altmeyer et al, 2023;Chen et al, 2023) provide interesting examples of effective and relatively simple objective instruments. The contribution by Altmeyer et al (2023) reports school-aged children (7 to 12 years old) using, as an objective instrument, a digital pen equipped with multiple motion and pressure sensors.…”

“…Two contributions from this special issue (Altmeyer et al, 2023;Chen et al, 2023) provide interesting examples of effective and relatively simple objective instruments. The contribution by Altmeyer et al (2023) reports school-aged children (7 to 12 years old) using, as an objective instrument, a digital pen equipped with multiple motion and pressure sensors. The participants complete drawing tasks of varying complexity, while also providing self-reports of cognitive load (Klepsch et al, 2017).…”