Over the past decade, meta-analyses have been conducted to evaluate the impact of embodied pedagogical agents on learning outcomes. Most review studies have evaluated learning outcomes from the perspective of testing labels such as transfer, retention, recognition, free recall, and various other classifications. This is problematic, because studies can be excluded due to the labeling of the assessment, even though the testing format and test taking strategy are the same. This meta-analysis assesses how embodied pedagogical agents impact learning when measured from the testing format and test taking strategy perspective. The new approach, along with new moderating variables to evaluate agent design and content information, supports previous findings that embodied pedagogical agents significantly increase learning; but there are limitations depending on the agent’s design and the type of information being learned. This meta-analysis advances the field by exploring new ways to think about design elements associated with embodied pedagogical agents.

Educational video podcasts are increasingly used in higher education, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying their effectiveness remain underexplored. This experimental study examined how working memory capacity and additive contextual features influence situational interest, cognitive load, and learning from educational video podcasts. Sixty-two university students viewed video podcasts on lightning with standard narration with visuals (control), elaborative details, or seductive details. Working memory did not significantly predict learning outcomes or moderate the effects of additive features, and no differences were observed across conditions for cognitive load or situational interest. In free recall, the control condition outperformed the seductive details condition (p = .004, g = 1.03), though this difference was not significant when controlling for working memory. Transfer did not differ across conditions. Follow-up interviews revealed that students across conditions emphasized visuals as critical for comprehension, while those in additive conditions reported feeling overwhelmed despite similar cognitive load ratings. These findings suggest that well-designed multimedia environments may stabilize learning outcomes across differences in working memory capacity, extending cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Designers of educational video podcasts should prioritize narration aligned with supportive visuals over additive contextual features.

The split-attention principle suggests that separating onscreen information sources can overburden working memory and impede learning. While research has traditionally focused on the separation of images and text, relatively little is known about the impact of multiple simultaneous visual inputs. This study examined the split-attention principle in a multimedia environment featuring a pedagogical agent performing gestures, with hologram-like images either integrated centrally with the agent or spatially separated. A within-subjects design (N = 80) investigated the impact on satisfaction, cognitive load, and cued recall. The quantitative findings revealed no significant differences between the two spatial conditions. Preliminary qualitative insights from a limited sample of six individual interviews suggested that some participants may employ strategies to simplify complex designs and manage perceived cognitive load. Based on these limited qualitative observations, this research tentatively proposes the “pruning principle”, a metacognitive strategy where learners actively “prune” extraneous information to optimize cognitive resources. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences and metacognitive strategies in multimedia design.

This study examined how cultural background and self-reported gender influence student–faculty email communication in English-Medium Instruction (EMI) settings. Advanced international language learners (N = 113) wrote emails in English to either Korean or international professors without prior instruction. The emails were analyzed for framing elements and request strategies using holistic assessment. The findings revealed significant patterns in formality and strategy use based on professor nationality and student gender. Emails to Korean professors exhibited higher formality levels, especially among students with better framing appropriateness scores. Cultural differences emerged in request strategies: international students favored performative requests, while Korean students preferred disarmers. Self-reported gender also correlated with different framing strategies, particularly when communicating with Korean professors. These findings highlight the complex interaction among culture, gender, and pragmatic awareness in EMI academic correspondence. The study underscores the importance of understanding cross-cultural communication patterns in diverse educational environments and suggests the need for further research into multilingual communication practices in higher education to better support international student populations.