# Cognitive Load Approach to Digital Comics Creation: A Student-Centered Learning Case
## 1 Introduction  
New technologies offer the contemporary classroom the possibility of using educational multimedia, which include combinations of at least two different media types, such as text (written or spoken), pictures, video, and animations [1]. The presentation of educational material in the form of multimedia is based on the fact that learning with words and images is more effective than learning with words or images alone [2]. However, instructional multimedia design might suffer from several conditions that potentially hinder students' knowledge construction. These conditions arise from Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). Learning is an active process of knowledge construction in which instruction aims at guiding learners' cognitive processes [3]. [PERSON]'s CLT describes the mental workload (MWL) as a result of the number of informational units that must be held in the working memory, which is limited in capacity [4]. [PERSON]'s CTML provides a useful means by which instructional efficiency can be analyzed because it sets out the principles that should govern educational multimedia in order to support learning. In this context, effectiveness is related to fostering learning, that is, the construction of knowledge [5]. Learning occurs when working memory successfully processes information, leading to new schema creation. The control of cognitive load isimportant for meaningful learning, and consequently, CLT and CMTL contribute to the generation of a suitable instructional design [6]. Multimedia designers, according to CLT and CMTL, should produce instructional materials, taking care not to overload the working memory [7]. A key element in the above theories is the measurement of the MWL imposed on learners by the educational activities they are asked to carry out. Reliable assessment of a learner's MWL would enable a range of new and improved instructional activities [8]. The NASA-TLX, created by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [9], is a widely used and reliable method to assess MWL [10; 11]. The NASA-TLX is a subjective, self-reported, multidimensional method that assesses the MWL across six dimensions. A digital learning activity, with its specific technology, influences students' cognitive load and is worthy of investigation under the theories of CLT and CMTL. Research has shown the effectiveness of text and picture integration in school activities [12]. This integration is used, for example, in science textbooks that use different types of visual representations to support information reporting and explain content [13; 14]. Similarly, [PERSON] [15] noted that visual representations can aid the understanding of scientific ideas; thus, they are included in modern science textbooks. [PERSON] [16] also stated that most textbooks today, in order to promote understanding of mathematics, use a wide variety of diagrams and pictures. Among different types of text and picture integration, comics have gained researchers' interest. Visual narratives existing in comics present information in a sequence of images and are often combined with written text. Similarities in brain responses have been found in the processing of visual narrative sequences and sentences [17]. [PERSON] et al. [18] stated that comics, with their power of visual communication and narrative dialogue, can help students to deconstruct and reconstruct meaning. Comics creation, additionally, provides students with a popular and accessible medium to communicate their knowledge. Moreover, digital comics creation is based on computers, which appeal to students. Comics have been used as instructional tools in various disciplines, such as chemistry, computer science, biology, physics, nanotechnology, and programming, satisfying students and deepening their engagement [19; 20; 21; 22]. Comics provide students with an easy way to access information and can motivate them [23], while comics creation maintains this motivation for a longer period [19].