Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1451020

Relationship between the cognitive load and the learning success in applying force diagrams: Eye-Tracking Study

Provisionally accepted
Yultuz Omarbakiyeva Yultuz Omarbakiyeva 1*Larissa Hahn Larissa Hahn 2Pascal Klein Pascal Klein 2Ingrid Krumphals Ingrid Krumphals 3Bianca Watzka Bianca Watzka 1
  • 1 Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
  • 2 University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 3 University of Teacher Education Styria, Graz, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This paper is concerned with investigating the cognitive demands of solving force diagram tasks in different scenarios, specifically in the wind context. In this study, students were trained using worked examples and then completed tasks in two different scenarios while their eye movements were monitored with eye-tracking technology. After completing the tasks, cognitive load was assessed to evaluate the impact of task complexity on cognitive processing. Eye-tracking metrics were analyzed in detail to identify gaze strategies, differences and similarities. It was found that a three-force scenario (surface wind formation) induced a higher intrinsic cognitive load than a two-force scenario, which is not only theoretically justified by cognitive load theory, but also confirmed by eye-tracking metrics. Although correlation analyses show no significant relationship between the ability to mentally rotate and learning success, the role of mental rotation in problem solving is highlighted by eye-tracking data. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the learning and problem-solving mechanisms involved in wind direction determination and offer possible implications for the design of more effective teaching and learning methods in this area.

    Keywords: Cognitive Load, Learning success, Eye-tracking, stem education, Physics

    Received: 18 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Omarbakiyeva, Hahn, Klein, Krumphals and Watzka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yultuz Omarbakiyeva, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.