When interactivity becomes instruction: Effects of motivation-guided digital learning on elementary students’ cognitive outcomes

Elementary education widely uses interactive digital learning, yet its effects on cognitive learning outcomes remain inconsistent and strongly depend on instructional design. This study examines whether interactivity functions as an instructional mechanism when embedded within a motivation-guided learning design. This study employed a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-test–post-test design with 90 fifth-grade students assigned to two experimental classes and one control class. The experimental groups learned using Book Creator-based media structured according to the ARIAS motivational framework, while the control group received conventional instruction. Post-test outcomes were analyzed using ANCOVA with pre-test scores as a covariate and complemented by rank-based and robust M-estimator ANCOVA. Across all analytical approaches, the experimental groups outperformed the control group by approximately 19 points, with no significant differences between experimental classes. The convergence of results indicates that the observed effects are robust to distributional assumptions. These findings suggest that learning gains were associated with an integrated instructional design in which interactivity, motivational scaffolding, and structured learning sequences were jointly embedded. Rather than functioning as an inherent technological advantage, interactivity appears most beneficial when aligned with broader instructional and cognitive principles.