Fan Lifang, Pan Chen, Bai Xuejun, Li Shiyi
Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Jiangxi Flight University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Aug 13;16:1599827. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1599827. eCollection 2025.
Online learning exhibits unique educational benefits, especially in terms of the autonomy, convenience, and flexibility it offers to students. However, it also encounters significant challenges. Without effective supervision, students are frequently distracted by checking mobile messages or other digital activities during online classes. This kind of media multitasking behavior in online learning environments has risen considerably when contrasted with traditional classroom settings. Media multitasking is typically known as simultaneously engaging in multiple media tasks or switching quickly between multiple media activities. Since task relevance impacts perceptions of multitasking and task performance, media multitasking can be categorized into academically relevant and irrelevant types. This classification enables a distinct examination of their respective correlations with academic achievement.
The current study utilized a cross-sectional survey design, involving 557 Chinese university students who had participated in eight weeks of online classes. The participants completed an online survey, which incorporated the Academically Relevant Media Multitasking Questionnaire (AR-MMQ), the Academically Irrelevant Media Multitasking Questionnaire (AIR-MMQ), the Self-regulation Strategies Scale (SRS), the Flow Experience Scale (FL), and the Academic Performance Scale (AP). After conducting bivariate correlation analysis, the sequential mediation pathways were examined using structural equation modeling.
The findings revealed that: (1) Academically relevant media multitasking exhibited significant positive correlations with self-regulation strategies, flow experience, and academic performance. In contrast, academically irrelevant media multitasking showed no significant correlations with these variables; and (2) Self-regulation strategies and flow experience functioned as serial mediators in the relationship between academically relevant media multitasking and academic performance. However, this serial mediating effect was absent in the relationship between academically irrelevant media multitasking and academic performance.
The findings imply that individuals who frequently participate in academically relevant media multitasking can more effectively control their behaviors, leading to enhanced concentration, a more immersive learning experience, and consequently improved academic performance. This study proposes that engaging in task-relevant media multitasking may boost cognitive processes instead of just interrupting them. It backs up a complete view where the multidimensional features of media multitasking behaviors lead to different cognitive results.
在线学习具有独特的教育优势，特别是在为学生提供的自主性、便利性和灵活性方面。然而，它也面临重大挑战。在没有有效监督的情况下，学生在在线课程期间经常会因查看手机信息或进行其他数字活动而分心。与传统课堂环境相比，这种在线学习环境中的媒体多任务行为显著增加。媒体多任务通常是指同时参与多项媒体任务或在多种媒体活动之间快速切换。由于任务相关性会影响对多任务处理和任务表现的认知，媒体多任务可分为与学业相关和无关的类型。这种分类有助于分别考察它们与学业成绩的各自相关性。
本研究采用横断面调查设计，涉及557名参加了八周在线课程的中国大学生。参与者完成了一项在线调查，其中包括学业相关媒体多任务问卷（AR-MMQ）、学业无关媒体多任务问卷（AIR-MMQ）、自我调节策略量表（SRS）、心流体验量表（FL）和学业成绩量表（AP）。在进行双变量相关分析后，使用结构方程模型检验了顺序中介路径。
研究结果显示：（1）学业相关媒体多任务与自我调节策略、心流体验和学业成绩呈显著正相关。相比之下，学业无关媒体多任务与这些变量无显著相关性；（2）自我调节策略和心流体验在学业相关媒体多任务与学业成绩的关系中起连续中介作用。然而，在学业无关媒体多任务与学业成绩的关系中不存在这种连续中介效应。
研究结果表明，经常参与学业相关媒体多任务的个体能够更有效地控制自己的行为，从而提高注意力、获得更沉浸式的学习体验，进而提高学业成绩。本研究提出，参与与任务相关的媒体多任务可能会促进认知过程，而不仅仅是打断它们。它支持了一种完整的观点，即媒体多任务行为的多维特征会导致不同的认知结果。
