Cognitive Load During Student-Created Virtual Worlds: A NASA-TLX Assessment Using Spatial.io

Despite the increasing adoption of metaverse technologies, particularly in educational contexts, the cognitive impacts of students designing their own immersive experiences remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by providing empirical baseline data on the cognitive load of students designing virtual worlds. All 100 participants were second-year undergraduate computer science students, aged 20 to 22, who completed a five-week virtual world development project using the Spatial.io platform. Cognitive load was assessed using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), which is a measure of six dimensions: Mental Demand, Physical Demand, Temporal Demand, Performance, Effort, and Frustration. The total weighted NASA-TLX showed moderate cognitive load (M = 48.42, SD = 12.18, 95% CI [45.99, 50.85]), with a percentage of 9% of respondents indicating high cognitive load (scores > 60). Temporal Demand was the highest-rated dimension (M = 14.32, SD = 3.84), followed by Mental Demand (M = 13.68, SD = 3.52), while Physical Demand was the lowest (M = 5.23, SD = 2.94). The Spearman correlation analysis indicated that there were strong correlations between Temporal Demand and Effort (ρ = 0.62, p < 0.001) and Temporal Demand and Mental Demand (ρ = 0.58, p < 0.001) with Frustration demonstrating moderate correlations with most cognitive dimensions. In this sample, the NASA-TLX showed a good internal consistency (0.82). No statistically significant difference was found in the overall workload scores or in individual subscales (p > 0.05), indicating that the cognitive load experienced by male and female participants in the development of a virtual world was similar, but the small sub-sample of female participants (n = 25) reduces the statistical power of the comparison. These results provide a descriptive baseline for cognitive workload in virtual world creation led by students and provide evidence-based guidance into how educators can develop immersive development programs.