Stylus Use in E‐Assessment: A Longitudinal Study of Usability and Cognitive Load

E‐assessment of STEM subjects is limited given the poor user experience when producing diagrams and equations on the computer with traditional mouse and keyboard interfaces. However, stylus input could help overcome the limitations of STEM e‐assessment. The aim of this work is to compare stylus input to paper for STEM e‐assessments, focussing particularly on usability and cognitive load. Our prediction is that styli can provide a similar user experience to that of paper. A longitudinal study with students assessed the usability and cognitive load of direct and indirect stylus input devices compared to paper in an e‐assessment context. The results show that overall stylus input was not significantly different to paper in terms of cognitive load and usability. For self‐reported cognitive load, the direct and indirect styli were equivalent to paper. The direct stylus was also equivalent to paper in terms of ease of use, intuitiveness and confidence. Most students also preferred the devices over paper for mathematics assessments. Over time, cognitive load decreased, and usability and preferences increased. These results indicate a strong case for the use of stylus input for STEM e‐assessment. This is an important finding as assessment is digitised, particularly in terms of providing adequate support for students completing STEM e‐assessments.