The Effect of Cognitive Load on Learning Memory of Online Learning Accounting Students in the Philippines

Before COVID-19, universities in the Philippines sparingly used online learning instructional methods. Online learning is now widely known, and universities are increasingly keen to adopt it as a mainstream instructional method. Accounting is a popular discipline of study undertaken by students, but its online adoption is less well known. This study investigated university accounting students’ perceptions of the cognitive load of learning and how it influences their effect on learning memory at a university in the Philippines. During the COVID-19 period, after introducing online learning, 482 university undergraduate accounting students provided their perceptions using a five-point Likert scale survey questionnaire. The study measured teaching quality, learning content quality, and learning management system (LMS) quality, representing the cognitive load of learning. It measured electronic learning (e-learning) quality, learner satisfaction, and behavioral intentions to adopt online learning, continually representing the learning memory framework. The data analyzed using a structural equation model showed that students managing their cognitive load positively influenced their short-term learning. Learning content, teaching, and LMS quality positively influenced e-learning quality and student satisfaction. Student satisfaction positively influenced, but e-learning quality did not influence, students’ continued willingness for online learning. The findings were largely consistent across the second- and third-year enrolments. Findings from the first-year students showed that teaching quality did not influence student satisfaction and e-learning quality. This is the first study to test the influence of the cognitive load of learning on the learning memory of accounting students in an online learning environment.