Educational environment perception and cognitive load among physical therapy students during e-learning

Background: Understanding students' perception of the educational environment and their cognitive load in this context is crucial for optimizing the effectiveness of e-learning platforms. Objective: To compare educational environment perception and cognitive load in under-graduates Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and post-graduate Master in Science of Physical Therapy (MSPT) students having online learning experiences. Methodology: In this comparative cross-sectional study, data was collected through non-probability convenient sampling from n=274 under-graduates DPT (n=225) and post-graduates MSPT(n=49) students of either gender having one-semester experience of online learning, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) for measuring educational environmental perception and Rating Scale of Mental Effort (RSME) for measurement of cognitive load. Online self-structured was developed questionnaire and shared through communication media platform and data analysis was made through SPSS version 28. Results: There were n=225 under-graduates (DPT) and n=49 post-graduates (MSPT) students in which, there were n=208 females and n=66 males. The overall DREEM score showed that MSPT students are more significantly positive (p<0.001, Cohen’s d=1.01) than DPT students regarding the perception of the educational environment with a large effect size. While there was no significant difference (p=0.114) between MSP and DPT students regarding cognitive load. Conclusion: Post-graduates (MSPT) students have better educational environmental perception than undergraduate (DPT) students but there was no significant difference in cognitive load in undergraduate (DPT) and post-graduates (MSPT) students. Keywords: cognition; cognitive load; mental effort; e-learning; physiotherapist.