Abstract
In this paper, we report a 12-week longitudinal study aiming at exploring the students’ reading outcome and cognitive load with individual-based print, mobile app of Rain Classroom and collaboration-based social media of WeChat. Administered to 186 postgraduate students in a research university were the weekly reading materials and comprehension tests, together with the self-designed CLCR scale after the reading sessions. A combination of one-way and repeated measures ANOVA along with multi-regression analysis showed that social media produced the best reading outcome; The same pattern occurred about enhanced reading outcome in the initial sessions followed by a decline at the end; Reading outcome in print other than in mobile and social media significantly increased from the first session to the ending session; Reading in mobile generated the highest level of extraneous, intrinsic, and germane load; Multi-regression analysis showed a negative relationship between intrinsic load and the prediction of collaborative reading across all the reading contexts. Further efforts may contribute to more complex patterns of reading outcome and cognitive load status by arranging individual- and collaboration-based contexts in different sequences for students with high and low level of cognitive load.
