Leveraging digital skills to reduce cognitive strain: Implications for academic self-efficacy in medical education

Digital literacy influences academic behaviors, especially in medical education, where students encounter considerable academic challenges. However, the effects of this phenomenon on academic self-efficacy and cognitive load remain inadequately understood.

This research explores the relationships between digital literacy and academic self-efficacy, emphasizing the mediating role of cognitive load and its various dimensions among medical students in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted from seven medical colleges in Islamabad, Pakistan, from October to December 2023. The research employed meticulously validated measurement tools encompassing a digital literacy scale, academic self-efficacy scale, and cognitive load scale and collected data on 633 medical students. Descriptive statistics and inferential testing (mediation analysis) were performed to investigate the direct and indirect relationships of the study variables.

The empirical results revealed that digital literacy significantly enhances academic self-efficacy both directly and indirectly. First, the total cognitive load score showed partial mediation (β = 0.165, p < 0.001). Then, individual subscale analysis revealed that intrinsic cognitive load (β = 0.147, p < 0.001) and extraneous cognitive load (β = 0.144, p < 0.001) were significant mediators. However, the mediation effect through self-perceived learning (β = 0.105, p = 0.361) was not supported, suggesting variability in how students perceive their learning gains or other influencing factors influencing this relationship, which warrants further investigation.

The research finding underscores the crucial integration of digital literacy instruction into medical curriculums to bolster students' academic self-efficacy by adeptly managing cognitive load. While digital literacy notably reduces intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads, its impact on perceived learning appears context-dependent and requires further exploration. Additional studies are needed to understand these relationships across educational settings and identify other potential influencing factors.