Oleksandra Poquet, Mani Shankar Nanduri, Maria Ximena Salinas Loyer, Matthias Stadler, Michael Sailer, Jelena Jovanovic — Accepted at EC-TEL 2026 — cs.HC, cs.ET 📄 Full text (arXiv)
This study compares two approaches to profiling how learners offload cognitive activity to LLMs during a synthesis writing task, drawing on Salomon's distributed cognition and the Kintsch–van Dijk model of text comprehension. Volume-based profiling (k-means, k=4) differentiated learners primarily by prior knowledge, with higher LLM use negatively associated with essay authorship. Content-based profiling (k=5) revealed qualitatively distinct patterns: from vocabulary clarification to active direction of structuring and generation to passive delegation of comprehension at both local and global levels. These patterns correspond to differences in learning strategies, behavioral markers, and essay authorship. The study provides a nuanced framework for understanding not just how much learners rely on LLMs, but what kind of cognitive work they offload — critical for designing ai-literacy interventions and formative-assessment that promotes productive AI use without undermining learning. The findings connect to self-regulated-learning research by showing that offloading patterns reflect different fragmentation of the cognitive process.
Related Pages
- knowledge-tracing-irt — Knowledge tracing models and IRT for student modeling
- intelligent-tutoring — AI tutoring systems and adaptive instruction
- learning-analytics — Data-driven analysis of learning processes
- ai-literacy — Understanding and evaluating AI tools
- student-modeling — Representing learner knowledge and behavior
- cs-education — Computing education research and pedagogy
- self-regulated-learning — Metacognitive strategies for independent learning
- formative-assessment — Ongoing assessment to inform instruction
- automated-grading — AI-assisted evaluation of student work
- scaffolding — Instructional support that fades with competence
- generativism-learning-theory — Generativism as a theoretical foundation for understanding cognitive offloading in AI-mediated synthesis
Citations
APA: Oleksandra Poquet, Mani Shankar Nanduri, Maria Ximena Salinas Loyer, Matthias Stadler, Michael Sailer, Jelena Jovanovic (2026). Profiling cognitive offloading in LLM-mediated synthesis writing: Volume vs. content. arXiv:2606.10434. Accepted at EC-TEL 2026 — cs.HC, cs.ET.