The effects of the emotional design in multimedia assessment material on the cognitive load and motivation

When the design principles of multimedia learning are examined, although there are principles regarding the motivations of the learners, the motivation elements are neglected as they may create cognitive load. However, the fact that learners are ready to use their cognitive resources and are motivated to use these resources can help them make efforts to complete the given tasks. Emotional design-based multimedia environments can increase motivation without creating cognitive load. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the emotional design-based assessment material on student's cognitive load and motivation. The study was designed using explanatory sequential mixed method design. In the study, the multimedia-based assessment material in the subject of force and motion in physics for university students was used and this material has been redesigned in accordance with the emotional design. The study was carried out with a total of 306 university students, 159 in the experiment group and 147 in the control group. The multimedia-based version of the evaluation material was applied to the control group and the emotional design-based version was applied to the experiment group. Data were collected from the experiment and control groups by positive affect scale, cognitive load scale, secondary task, intrinsic motivation questionnaire and response effort tools. As a result, it was determined that emotional design-based multimedia assessment material did not create an extra cognitive load on the learners and did not affect the motivations of the learners.