Investigating the role of task concurrency and relevance on learning performance in computer mediated multitasking environments
Project no. 789 · Status: Kapanmış · 2017
Summary
The current experiment involved an investigation of the effects of multitasking on learning during multimedia presentations. Different multitasking conditions were prepared in accordance with task relevance (relevant vs. irrelevant), and task timing (sequential vs. concurrent) which resulted in four experimental groups along with a control group (i.e., no-multitasking). A total of 356 subjects were randomly assigned to experimental conditions. A knowledge test pertaining to life cycle of malaria parasite was used as a pre- and post-test. The difference between the two measurements (i.e., gained scores) was the dependent variable. The experiment required participants to respond to open-ended and short-answer questions, which were prepared according to task relevance (i.e., relavant vs. irrelevant) and presented with different timing patterns (i.e., sequential vs. concurrent). The working memory capacity was included as a covariate in the analysis of covariance which indicated that the control group was the most advantageous one in terms of the learning outcomes. Except for the relevant and sequential multitasking condition, all experimental conditions had significantly lower gained scores than the control group. Findings revealed that the perceived multitasking advantage of digital natives could not be confirmed empirically.