Light Up the Brain: An Exploratory Study of Applying Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in an Authentic Video Task

Digital video (DV) is widely used in education settings; however, few researchers have explored the neurocognitive underpinnings of DV tasks. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) records neurological activity in real time, is robust to movement, and provides information about cognitive load and engagement levels during authentic learning tasks. This study used fNIRS to measure hemodynamic responses while eight participants completed a DV task. Statistically significant differences in hemodynamic responses during the editing and evaluation stages of the DV task were found. fNIRS can help researchers understand cognitive load and engagement levels during DV tasks, which can help inform learning and instruction.