The Influence of Feedback Content and Feedback Time on Multimedia Learning Achievement of College Students and Its Mechanism

This study investigated the content of feedback (adaptive, elaborated, and knowledge of correct response, KCR) and time (Immediate and Delayed) influences on multimedia learning of college students. Students from the Northeast Normal University (N = 157) were randomly assigned to one of the six experimental conditions. We tried to explain the influence mechanisms of different feedback effects through subjectively reported motivation, cognitive load, and eye movement trajectory during the feedback period. The results showed that (1) different feedback methods in terms of feedback time and feedback content have significantly different effects on scores. Among them, scores of the immediate feedback group were significantly higher than those of the delayed feedback group, and the scores of the adaptive feedback (AF) group were significantly higher than those of the elaborated feedback (EF) group and the knowledge of the correct response feedback group. (2) Different types of feedback contents have significantly different effects on motivation. The motivation scores reported by the AF group and EF group were significantly higher than those reported by the knowledge of the correct response feedback group. (3) Different feedback methods in terms of feedback time and feedback content had significantly different effects on subjective germane cognitive load reports. Among them, the germane cognitive load score of the immediate feedback group was significantly higher than that of the delayed feedback group. The germane cognitive load scores reported by the AF group were significantly higher than those reported by the EF group and knowledge of the correct response feedback group. (4) The germane cognitive load plays a partial mediating role between the AF and post-test scores. (5) Different feedback methods in feedback time have different effects on eye movement fixation trajectory, which shows that the subjects in the immediate feedback group were significantly less than those in the delayed feedback group in fixation count and fixation time in the interest area of the stem. (6) Consistent with our hypothesis, different feedback methods in feedback content have different effects on eye movement trajectory. In summary, the results show that the AF initiated in this study has a positive effect on multimedia learning of college students; it not only provides empirical evidence for cognitive load theory but also helps educators design adaptive learning feedback according to responses of students.