EEG-Based Engagement Index for Cognitive Load Assessment in Multimedia and Paper-Based Learning

Despite the fact that multimedia has been widely used in the field of education, the effects by multimedia and text have been the focus of debate. This study is the first to conduct a staged cognitive load study of the learning and testing process involving two modalities, using second language learners as experimental subjects to minimize individual differences due to priori knowledge. We analyzed the Engagement Index (EI) in both learning modalities. The findings of this study are as follows: 1) EI can serve as an indicator for measuring cognitive load, warranting further research into real-time cognitive load variations. 2) Contrary to common perception, multimedia learning is not naturally superior to paper-based learning; rather, there is a risk that cognitive load may be maintained at high levels throughout the learning and testing time periods, and that there may be an increase in cognitive load due to knowledge integration especially during the testing phase. 3) Paper-based learning exhibits the highest cognitive load during the initial learning phase, which gradually decreases, and the lowest cognitive load during the testing phase. 4) The EI exhibits a lateralization effect, with the right side consistently higher than the left across the entire learning and testing phases.