Based on the assumptions of Cognitive Load Theory and its derived signaling principle, previous research on instructional material has mainly investigated the effect of including visual cues to support the processing and integration of information. In the context of the renewed interest in commented videos and podcasts as instructional materials, the present study investigates the influence of prosodic signals on learning with digital media. An online experiment was conducted with 102 German students using an audio podcast as digital learning material. The audio recording was varied following the prosody of human language in terms of a 2 (volume: regular vs. higher) × 2 (pace: regular vs. slower) between-subject design to examine signaling key concepts. The results showed a positive effect of both prosodic cues manipulations (main effects) on learning outcomes and the most substantial impact when cumulated. This aligns with previous research on visual cues and thus extends findings on the signaling effect to the auditory modality. However, the picture is not so clear-cut. Indeed, higher learning outcome was also associated with higher mental effort and load with higher volume and no difference in effort but a lower load for a slower pace. Further, the presence of signals was also paired with an underestimation of learning. Overall, this could indicate a difficulty in processing the prosodic cues and integrating the signaled elements in the mental model, with an unknown effect on longer-term learning. Future research could further investigate additional possibilities of prosody (e.g., neutral vs. euphoric tone) as prosodic cues and characteristics linked to the speaker (e.g., age, gender) in podcasts and multimedia documents.

中文翻译：

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仔细聆听：播客中的韵律信号支持学习

基于认知负荷理论的假设及其衍生的信号原理，以往的教学材料研究主要研究视觉线索对信息处理和整合的支持作用。在人们对评论视频和播客作为教学材料重新产生兴趣的背景下，本研究调查了韵律信号对数字媒体学习的影响。使用音频播客作为数字学习材料，对 102 名德国学生进行了一项在线实验。音频记录按照人类语言的韵律变化，采用 2（音量：常规与较高）× 2（节奏：常规与较慢）受试者间设计来检查信号关键概念。结果显示，韵律线索操作（主效应）对学习成果产生积极影响，并且累积后影响最为显着。这与之前关于视觉线索的研究相一致，从而将信号传导效应的发现扩展到听觉模式。然而，情况并不是那么清晰。事实上，更高的学习成果也与更高的脑力劳动和更高的学习量相关，并且努力程度没有差异，但速度较慢时负荷较低。此外，信号的存在也伴随着对学习的低估。总的来说，这可能表明处理韵律线索和将信号元素整合到心理模型中存在困难，对长期学习的影响未知。未来的研究可以进一步调查韵律（例如，中性语气与欣快语气）作为与播客和多媒体文档中的说话者（例如年龄、性别）相关的韵律线索和特征的其他可能性。