Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module
written by
N. Sanjay Rebello, Jeremy Munsell, Prasanth Chandran, Lester C. Loschky, Yifeng Huang, Minh Hoai, and Sidney D’Mello
This study investigated relationships between online learners' self-reported attentional and cognitive states, cognitive load, situational engagement, and learning gains from a multimedia instructional module on Newton's second law. Students (N=896) estimated time spent in four states: on-screen/on-task, off-screen/on-task, on-screen/off-task (mind wandering), and off-screen/off-task. Most time was spent on-screen/on-task (62.4%). Mind wandering time negatively correlated with engagement, germane load, and learning gains. On-task time positively correlated with engagement and germane load, but off-screen/on-task time unexpectedly negatively related to germane load. Off-task time correlated negatively with engagement/germane load and positively with extraneous load. However, no attentional state significantly predicted learning gains besides mind wandering's negative impact. Self-reports revealed relationships generally aligning with cognitive load theory, though some findings differed from expectations. The results underscore examining attentional-cognitive states' influence on cognitive load, engagement, and multimedia learning outcomes.
Physics Education Research Conference 2024
Part of the PER Conference series Boston, MA: July 10-11, 2024 Pages 354-360
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=16922">Rebello, N, J. Munsell, P. Chandran, L. Loschky, Y. Huang, M. Hoai, and S. D’Mello. "Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2024, Boston, MA, July 10-11, 2024.</a>
![]() N. Rebello, J. Munsell, P. Chandran, L. Loschky, Y. Huang, M. Hoai, and S. D’Mello, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2024, Boston, MA, 2024, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989).
![]() N. Rebello, J. Munsell, P. Chandran, L. Loschky, Y. Huang, M. Hoai, and S. D’Mello, Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2024, Boston, MA, 2024, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989>.
![]() Rebello, N., Munsell, J., Chandran, P., Loschky, L., Huang, Y., Hoai, M., & D’Mello, S. (2024, July 10-11). Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2024, Boston, MA. Retrieved July 20, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989
![]() Rebello, N, J. Munsell, P. Chandran, L. Loschky, Y. Huang, M. Hoai, and S. D’Mello. "Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2024, Boston, MA, July 10-11, 2024. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989 (accessed 20 July 2025).
![]() Rebello, N. Sanjay, Jeremy Munsell, Prasanth Chandran, Lester Loschky, Yifeng Huang, Minh Hoai, and Sidney D’Mello. "Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module." Physics Education Research Conference 2024. Boston, MA: 2024. 354-360 of PER Conference. 20 July 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "N. Sanjay Rebello and Jeremy Munsell and Prasanth Chandran and Lester Loschky and Yifeng Huang and Minh Hoai and Sidney D’Mello",
Title = {Mapping students’ self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2024},
Pages = {354-360},
Address = {Boston, MA},
Series = {PER Conference},
Month = {July 10-11},
Year = {2024}
}
![]() %A N. Sanjay Rebello %A Jeremy Munsell %A Prasanth Chandran %A Lester Loschky %A Yifeng Huang %A Minh Hoai %A Sidney D'Mello %T Mapping students' self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module %S PER Conference %D July 10-11 2024 %P 354-360 %C Boston, MA %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2024 %O July 10-11 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Rebello, N. Sanjay %A Munsell, Jeremy %A Chandran, Prasanth %A Loschky, Lester %A Huang, Yifeng %A Hoai, Minh %A D'Mello, Sidney %D July 10-11 2024 %T Mapping students' self-reported cognitive load, situational engagement, and attentional-cognitive states in an online multimedia learning module %B Physics Education Research Conference 2024 %C Boston, MA %P 354-360 %S PER Conference %8 July 10-11 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16922&DocID=5989 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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