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

ABSTRACT 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. LAY ABSTRACT We measured eight participants' neural activities while completing a digital video (DV) task. The participants showed various levels of cognitive effort during different editing and evaluation stages of the task. Findings show that by measuring neural activity during DV tasks, we can identify different levels of engagement and cognitive effort, which may help guide future DV instruction.