Cognitive offloading through digital tools and its relationship with critical thinking, task persistence, and...

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Higher Education Studies

Background:

• University classrooms increasingly use digital tools, raising concerns about cognitive offloading.
• Social cognitive theory provides a framework to understand student learning processes with digital tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the relationship between cognitive offloading and critical thinking, task persistence, and learning depth.
• Examine the mediating role of cognitive self-efficacy in this relationship.

Main Methods:

• In-person surveys administered to undergraduate students in Chinese universities.
• Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) used for data analysis.
• Assessment of measurement model reliability and validity, followed by testing the mediation framework.

Main Results:

• Cognitive offloading positively correlates with cognitive self-efficacy.
• Cognitive self-efficacy significantly predicts critical thinking, task persistence, and learning depth.
• Cognitive self-efficacy fully mediates the link between cognitive offloading and task persistence, and partially mediates the links with critical thinking and learning depth.

Conclusions:

• Findings integrate cognitive offloading and self-efficacy theories, revealing the psychological mechanism for digital tool benefits.
• Enhanced cognitive self-efficacy through digital tools can foster deeper learning engagement and persistence.
• Pedagogical practices should align digital tool use with strategies promoting critical thinking and deep learning.