Framework Of Cognitive Load Theory Research Articles

A Cognitive Load Theory Perspective of the Undergraduate Anesthesia Curricula in South Africa.

Safe anesthesia is indispensable to achieve global safe surgery and equitable health care access. The disease burden and lack of specialists in South Africa (SA) require junior, nonspecialist doctors to be fit-for-purpose from day 1 when they provide anesthetic services in peripheral hospitals with limited supervision. Graduating students report low self-perceived preparedness for administering anesthesia, but it is not known how their curricular experiences influence their learning. Cognitive load theory defines intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive loads (subtypes). Intrinsic load relates to learning tasks, extraneous load to distractions, and germane load to students' learning processes. This study used a cognitive load theory lens to explore SA students' experiences of their undergraduate anesthesia training. In a constructivist cross-sectional descriptive study, we explored the qualitative factors that influenced students' curricular experience of undergraduate anesthesia training in SA. Two investigators analyzed the data independently in an initial coding round. An emerging theme of lack of time to achieve the expected outcomes, prompted the use of cognitive load theory as a conceptual framework for further analysis by the 3 authors. The subsequent analysis informed the development and refinement of a final cognitive load theory framework for anesthesia training, the COLOAD (COgnitive LOad in Anesthesia eDucation) framework. Data were collected between November 2017 and February 2019. The 1336 respondents (79% participation) reported a variety of determinants of learning pertaining to all 3 cognitive load subtypes. Participants were novices in an inherently complex environment and experienced a high cognitive load during anesthesia training. The number-, complexity-, and interactivity of tasks influenced intrinsic load, while extraneous load was affected by ineffective instructional methods, external- and internal distractors. Program design, metacognition, and learner motivation impacted germane load. Cognitive load theory provided a useful theoretical basis for understanding students' curricular experiences. The COLOAD framework suggests a microlevel interrelatedness of the constituting elements of the 3 cognitive load subtypes. This has implications for curriculum design, pedagogy, and student support. Learning outcomes development and curriculum mapping are important to ensure a lean curriculum, but measures to enhance germane cognitive load might be equally important to achieve competence. Attention to the hidden curriculum and active promotion of reflective practice might reduce cognitive load in complex learning environments such as anesthesia training.

Reflection of Individual Cognitive Load Theories in Digital Learning from a Pedagogical Point of View – an Empirical Study of the Impact of Language Skills in an E-learning Program For Migrants And Refugees

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) deal with the thesis that human working memories can only store and retain a limited number of items and address how to utilize individual capacity in the learning process without provoking cognitive overload. Based on these theoretical insights, traditional ways of non-digitalized learning are usually perceived to be more effective, as there may be less cognitive overload due to digital multimedia design; however, with the use of modern technology, digital educational offerings such as e-Learning programs can be effective as modified and tailored to the learners’ needs. This article studies how language barriers can negatively impact the success of eLearning programs for migrants and refugees from the perspective of CLT and a pedagogical point of view. The theoretical framework of CLT and CTML applied to interpret the findings from empirical data collected as part of the EU-funded project “Young Refugees AI Student Empowerment Program – RAISE.” The project aims to capture the participants´ experiences and cognitive skills by shaping pedagogical strategies that adjust to the learner’s optimal pace and learning needs. The study explores the structural requirements of eLearning programs for migrants and refugees based on Cognitive Load Theories. The baseline is that eLearning is complex and demands significant working memory resources. This effect is significantly elevated to a point where it harms learning when the external demands vastly exceed the corresponding cognitive working memory resources.

Working Memory and Automaticity in Relation to Mental Addition among American Elementary Students

This study investigated the effects of working memory load (WML) and automaticity on mental addition through an examination of both task and individual characteristics within the framework of cognitive load theory. Seventy-three fourth-grade students in New York City public schools completed the Digit Span-Backward task of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition, the Math Fluency subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition, and a 24-item computer-assisted addition task. Results showed that working memory load, automaticity, and their interaction had significant effects on mental addition. Automaticity had a differential effect on response time under low and high WML conditions. Results also showed that working memory, math fluency, and their interaction could predict a significant portion of variance in accuracy. However, math fluency was the only significant predictor for mental addition on the measure of response time. The study confirmed the interaction effect between working memory and automaticity and underscored the importance of automaticity in arithmetic learning.

The effect of worked examples on learning solution steps and knowledge transfer

The worked example effect has been well documented within the framework of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), which suggests that teaching with examples would be superior to engaging in unguided problem solving, particularly for novices, as using worked examples would reduce their cognitive load, compared to solving problems, thus facilitating knowledge retention. This paper, using multiple-step mathematics problems, reports an experiment investigating the micro level of the worked example effect on learning solution steps, from the perspective of cognitive load and challenge (as a relevant affective, motivational factor), testing the worked example effect with a transfer test. The results favoured worked examples on both the retention and transfer tests after learning and showed that using worked examples would reduce cognitive load and impose less challenge on each step during learning.

Instructional efficiency: The role of prior knowledge and cognitive load

AbstractWe used a 2 (prior knowledge: low vs. high) × 4 (instructional approach: unitary vs. unitary‐pictorial vs. equation vs. equation‐pictorial) ANOVA to examine the relationship between instructional approach, student prior knowledge, and personal belief of best practice for learning of the find‐whole percentage problems, which pose a challenge for many middle school students. The unit percentage concept is central to both the unitary approach and the unitary‐pictorial approach, where the latter has a diagram to scaffold the unit percentage concept. Both the equation approach and the equation‐pictorial approach, in contrast, are algebra approaches that integrate relevant information to form an equation, allowing learners to solve for an unknown (e.g., x). Furthermore, the equation‐pictorial approach relies on the proportional concept, scaffolded by a diagram to form an equation. A student's best practice, reflected by what is known as the ‘actual – optimal bests dichotomy’, details her belief in capability to perform task complexity (i.e., simple task vs. complex task). The concept of element interactivity within cognitive load theory framework predicts differential instructional efficiency: equation‐pictorial > equation approach > unitary‐pictorial > unitary. Our findings (N = 218 secondary students) showed that performance outcomes favored high prior knowledge students for complex problems and, to a lesser extent, practice problems and simple problems. Low prior knowledge students benefitted most from the equation‐pictorial approach, and they invested higher mental effort than high prior knowledge students across three approaches (unitary, unitary‐pictorial, equation) but not the equation‐pictorial approach. Importantly, cognitive load imposition, by proxy of students' mental effort, was unrelated to students' belief in optimal best.

Modeling teachers’ reactions to unexpectedness

BackgroundEven experienced teachers make inconsistent classroom decisions in unexpected situations. From the cognitive load theory perspective, the effective handling of the novel, unexpected events by teachers depends on the cognitive load of the task, the teaching context in which the unexpectedness appears, and the available cognitive capacity. AimsTeachers’ reactions to unexpected mathematical events, in particular the unexpectedness of the arithmetic calculation, was modeled, investigated experimentally, and explained within the theoretical framework of cognitive load theory. Sample64 mathematics teacher trainees took part in the experiment. MethodsIn a dual-task arrangement, participants verified alternative answers to simple mathematical questions while memorizing task-irrelevant information. The answers represented low (schematic good responses), and high (unexpected good responses) processing load conditions, and control condition (incorrect responses). The memory load was low or high representing levels of extraneous load. The participants’ cognitive capacity was estimated by a complex working memory span task. ResultsThe verification of unexpected but correct answers was slow and more error-prone as compared with the processing speed and accuracy of schematic answers, presumably due to elevated processing (intrinsic) load. The increase in memory load resulted in slower and more inaccurate verifications. However, working memory capacity was found to mediate the extraneous load effect. ConclusionsThe results stress the importance of well-organized schemas for effective reactions to unexpected classroom events. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of accurately understanding and being aware of the impact of cognitive load on teachers to improve teaching practice.

Augmented reality and worked examples: Targeting organic chemistry competence

Instructional guidance, provided using worked examples, helps the inexperienced learner cope with complex information, that may be difficult to process in limited capacity working memory. For students of chemistry, such complex information can pertain to the visualisation of structural changes in molecules throughout chemical reactions. This can be alleviated through the affordances of augmented reality (AR) technology. 3D structures are important as they have a crucial impact on the chemical and physical properties of molecules. Within a framework of Cognitive Load Theory, this study illustrates how AR-supported worked examples may enhance learning of electrophilic aromatic substitution. The participant cohort were FHEQ level 5 undergraduate students studying a module of organic chemistry. In addition, the achievement motivation of learner's was also explored, and how this may be impacted by the provision of AR technology and worked examples. The control group was provided with a copy of our worked examples that contained 2D reaction mechanism drawings. Data was collected using a combination of quantitative instruments and qualitative surveys/interviews. For this cohort of students, significant intragroup improvements, and greater normalised change values, in conceptual understanding were observed in the AR group. This was not observed in the control group. No significant intergroup differences in reported cognitive load or achievement motivation of students were found. This was unaffected when introducing prior relevant chemistry experience as a covariate. Student feedback and subsequent thematic analysis show not only the positive impacts on student engagement, but also how students convey their understanding of electrophilic aromatic substitution principles.

Students’ Use of Retrieval in Self-Regulated Learning: Implications for Monitoring and Regulating Effortful Learning Experiences

Retrieval practice has been widely studied as an effective strategy for enhancing memory. In this review article, we discuss how its effects on learning complex problem-solving procedures are less straightforward, however, with repeated studying of worked examples sometimes more effective than problem-solving practice. This worked example benefit has been interpreted within the framework of cognitive load theory. In both memory-based tasks and problem-solving tasks, students rate retrieval as more effortful, and less effective for learning, than repeated study. Self-regulated learning decisions do not align with the evidence about the effectiveness of retrieval, as students often avoid using retrieval in memory-based tasks but frequently use it in more complex problem-solving tasks. Patterns associated with self-report survey data and self-regulated learning decisions suggest that retrieval may be used primarily as a means of checking knowledge, and the effort experienced during retrieval may drive subsequent study decisions (i.e., the choice to engage in retrieval vs. further study) to the extent that the experienced effort is interpreted as a sign that learning has been ineffective. We discuss implications of students’ views about the purpose of retrieval for effective monitoring and regulation of effort during learning, and propose interventions that may improve students’ optimal use of retrieval in their study decisions.

Teaching Infant Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to Caregivers in the Emergency Department.

Infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been taught to caregivers of infants in inpatient settings. There are no studies to date that look at teaching infant CPR in the emergency department (ED). Using a framework of cognitive load theory, we compared teaching infant CPR to caregivers in a pediatric ED versus an inpatient setting. Knowledge tests, 1-minute infant CPR performances on a Resusci Baby QCPR (Laerdal) manikin, and self-reported questionnaires were completed before and after caregivers were self-taught infant CPR using Infant CPR Anytime kits. The proportions of chest compression depth and rate that met quality standards from the American Heart Association's Basic Life Support program were measured. Seventy-four caregivers participated. Mean knowledge scores (out of a total score of 15) increased in both settings (ED preintervention: Mean (M) = 4.53 [SD = 1.97]; ED postintervention: M = 10.47 [SD = 2.90], P < 0.001; inpatient preintervention: M = 4.83 (SD = 2.08); inpatient postintervention: M = 10.61 [SD = 2.79], P < 0.001). Improvement in the proportion of chest compression that met high quality standards for depth increased in the inpatient group only. Neither groups had improvements in compression rates. There were no statistically significant differences in the difficulty of learning CPR, frequency of interruptions/distractions, or difficulty staying concentrated in learning CPR between the 2 settings. Caregivers in the ED and inpatient settings after a self-instructional infant CPR kit did not demonstrate adequate infant CPR performance. However, both groups gained infant CPR knowledge. Differences in cognitive loads between the 2 settings were not significant.

Exploring factors influencing the effectiveness of explicit instruction first and problem-solving first approaches

Problem solving followed by explicit instruction, as suggested by productive failure and several other instructional theories, indicates long-term learning benefits, whereas explicit instruction followed by problem solving has been consistently demonstrated as superior within the framework of cognitive load theory. However, the effectiveness of these instructional approaches may be moderated by several factors such as levels of element interactivity of learning materials, types of knowledge involved, and levels of learner prior knowledge (expertise). This review systematically searched studies comparing these alternative sequences, computed the observed effect sizes, and explored the effects of element interactivity, types of knowledge, and levels of expertise on the effectiveness of two instructional approaches.

Promoting Long-lasting Learning Through Instructional Design

Passively listening to a lecture (deWinstanley &amp; Bjork, 2002), skimming a textbook chapter, or googling for an answer to a homework problem is not conducive to deep and lasting high-order learning. At the same time, presenting complex concepts in problem-based classes might overload students’ working memory capacity. Effective student learning necessitates students to process information in their working memories, as well as storing information, facts and skills, in their long-term memories. Students must then be able to retrieve this information into their working memory in the future, in order to apply the information to new situations. That is, students must be able to recognize the characteristics of a future situation or problem and correctly retrieve the appropriate information stored in their long-term memory (Kirschner, Sweller, &amp; Clark, 2006) to tackle the issue. Using the framework of Cognitive Load Theory, this article proposes an instructional model that promotes five strategies for learning and teaching; i.e. spacing, retrieval practice, elaboration, interleaving, and concrete examples, to effectively help students store and retrieve information from their long-term memory.

Cognitive Load Measurement, Worked-Out Modeling, and Simulation

Using a cognitive load theory framework, this study investigated implementation of a worked-out modeling (WOM) prebriefing intervention on postsimulation knowledge acquisition and cognitive load experienced. A quasi-experimental quantitative design was used with a convenience sample of 61 senior-level nursing students who had previously participated in a simulation. The treatment group received the WOM intervention before simulation participation, and the control group received the usual presimulation interventions. A presimulation and postsimulation knowledge survey and a cognitive load measurement tool were administered after the simulation. Data indicated increased knowledge related to falls and situation, background, assessment, and recommendation in the treatment group and suggested that the treatment group experienced more intrinsic and germane load and less extraneous load. Overall, the cognitive load measurement tool was found reliable, although extraneous load measurement had poor reliability. In conclusion, further research concerning WOM is warranted, as is continued development and research concerning the cognitive load measurement tool.

Self-efficacy change associated with a cognitive load-based intervention in an undergraduate biology course

Cognitive load theory (CLT) holds that discovery learning and other instructional strategies imposing high levels of extraneous load on novice learners hinder learning. Such learning conditions are also associated with significant drops in persistence, a key measure of motivation. However, research within the CLT framework typically engages motivation as a necessary precursor to learning, rather than as an outcome of instruction. In this study, we examine changes in motivational beliefs as outcomes of learners' cognitive processes through a CLT lens as they engage with instruction. Using a double-blind quasi-experimental design, we manipulate the level of cognitive load imposed on participants through instruction and assess changes in self-efficacy from pre-to post-intervention. In an analysis of data from students enrolled in an undergraduate biology course (n = 2078), students in the treatment condition demonstrated significantly higher performance on end-of-semester lab reports and self-efficacy measures. However, post-instruction self-efficacy was not significantly related to performance, controlling for pre-instruction self-efficacy, gender, and scientific reasoning ability. These findings introduce the possibility that the cognitive load imposed on working memory during instruction may affect motivational beliefs and provides a foundation to further explore connections between historically distinct theoretical frameworks such as CLT and social cognitive theory.

Pictorial representations of simple arithmetic problems are not always helpful: a cognitive load perspective

At the start of mathematics education children are often presented with addition and subtraction problems in the form of pictures. They are asked to solve the problems by filling in corresponding number sentences. One type of problem concerns the representation of an increase or a decrease in a depicted amount. A decrease is, however, more difficult to represent in paper pictorially than an increase. Within the Cognitive Load Theory framework, we expected that commonly used decrease problems would be harder and slower to solve than increase problems because of higher intrinsic cognitive load. We also hypothesised that combining the pictorial information with auditory information would reduce this load and, as a result, would lead to improved performance. We further expected that these effects would be most prominent in children who score below average on a general mathematics test. We conducted an experiment with sixty children attending the first grade of primary school, who were divided into a higher and lower mathematics-achieving group. As expected, children performed worse on the decrease problems compared to the increase problems. Also, the combination of pictorial and auditory information reduced the accuracy lag of the decrease problems compared to the increase problems. With response time this effect occurred only in the group of lower mathematics achieving children. These results are in line with the cognitive load theory framework, but we also offer an alternative explanation regarding attention.

Cognitive load imposed by ultrasound‐facilitated teaching does not adversely affect gross anatomy learning outcomes

Ultrasonography is increasingly used in medical education, but its impact on learning outcomes is unclear. Adding ultrasound may facilitate learning, but may also potentially overwhelm novice learners. Based upon the framework of cognitive load theory, this study seeks to evaluate the relationship between cognitive load associated with using ultrasound and learning outcomes. The use of ultrasound was hypothesized to facilitate learning in anatomy for 161 novice first-year medical students. Using linear regression analyses, the relationship between reported cognitive load on using ultrasound and learning outcomes as measured by anatomy laboratory examination scores four weeks after ultrasound-guided anatomy training was evaluated in consenting students. Second anatomy examination scores of students who were taught anatomy with ultrasound were compared with historical controls (those not taught with ultrasound). Ultrasound's perceived utility for learning was measured on a five-point scale. Cognitive load on using ultrasound was measured on a nine-point scale. Primary outcome was the laboratory examination score (60 questions). Learners found ultrasound useful for learning. Weighted factor score on "image interpretation" was negatively, but insignificantly, associated with examination scores [F (1,135) = 0.28, beta = -0.22; P = 0.61]. Weighted factor score on "basic knobology" was positively and insignificantly associated with scores; [F (1,138) = 0.27, beta = 0.42; P = 0.60]. Cohorts exposed to ultrasound had significantly higher scores than historical controls (82.4% ± SD 8.6% vs. 78.8% ± 8.5%, Cohen's d = 0.41, P < 0.001). Using ultrasound to teach anatomy does not negatively impact learning and may improve learning outcomes. Anat Sci Educ 10: 144-151. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

The Expertise Reversal Effect is a Variant of the More General Element Interactivity Effect

Within the framework of cognitive load theory, the element interactivity and the expertise reversal effects usually are not treated as closely related effects. We argue that the two effects may be intertwined with the expertise reversal effect constituting a particular example of the element interactivity effect. Specifically, the element interactivity effect relies on changes in element interactivity due to changes in the type of material being learned, while the expertise reversal effect also relies on changes in relative levels of element interactivity but in this case, due to changes in relative levels of expertise. If so, both effects rely on equivalent changes in element interactivity with the changes induced by different factors. Empirical evidence is used to support this contention.

Effect of Computerized Gloss Presentation Format on Reading Comprehension: A Cognitive Load Perspective

In recent years, gloss presentation format or the location where a gloss appears with respect to its related target word has received renewed attention. Research suggested that different gloss presentation formats could have differential effects on reading comprehension and/or vocabulary learning. This study hypothesized that the effectiveness of different computerized gloss presentation formats in reading comprehension could be explained by drawing on the split-attention effect within the framework of cognitive load theory. The effect predicts that when two related sources of information are physically separated (e.g., a target word and the respective gloss), cognitive resources are unnecessarily wasted, and learning is hindered. To test this hypothesis, 39 Persian-speaking L2 learners of English were divided into two experimental conditions, each being exposed to a text enhanced with either in-text or marginal glosses. Two measures of reading comprehension and three measures of cognitive load were employed. The participants’ initial differences in terms of grammatical knowledge and vocabulary size were balanced out, and their look-up behavior was also tracked. The results revealed that the participants with access to in-text glosses, compared with those with marginal glosses, experienced lower levels of cognitive load due to the elimination of split-attention and, accordingly, performed better on the reading com-prehension measures. Given the participants’ L2 proficiency level, the findings suggested that a text enhanced with in-text glosses tends to be instructionally more efficient.

Evaluation of Electronic and Paper Textual Glosses on Second Language Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension

Second language studies have supported the use of glossing for enhancing vocabulary learning. Along with technological developments, an increasing number of studies have examined electronic textual glossing in computer-assisted environments, yet only a small number of studies have compared electronic glossing to its traditional paper counterpart. In the present study, we examined the effectiveness of electronic and paper textual glosses on second language vocabulary learning and reading comprehension within a cognitive load theory framework. We adopted an experimental design using Korean undergraduate learners of English as a foreign language, who read a target text under one of the three reading conditions: electronic gloss, paper gloss, and no gloss. The results showed that the electronic glossing condition resulted in the greatest gains of vocabulary. The electronic glossing condition was also the most efficient in light of the cognitive load framework, showing the highest instructional efficiency. However, there were no significant differences among the three reading conditions for measures related to reading comprehension.

Rethinking the Boundaries of Cognitive Load Theory in Complex Learning

In the traditional framework of cognitive load theory, it is assumed that the acquisition of domain-specific knowledge structures (or schemas) is the only instructional goal, and therefore, the theory is applicable to any instructional task. Accordingly, the basic concepts of intrinsic (productive) and extraneous (unproductive) types of cognitive load were defined based on the relevance (or irrelevance) of the corresponding cognitive processes that impose the load to achieving this universal instructional goal, and the instructional methods advocated by this theory are aimed at enhancing the acquisition of domain-specific schemas. The paper suggests considering this goal within the whole variety of possible specific goals of different learner activities that could be involved in complex learning. This would result in narrowing down of boundaries of cognitive load theory and have implications for distinguishing types of cognitive load, sequencing different goals and instructional tasks, considering the role of learner expertise, and other aspects of complex learning. One of the consequences of this reconceptualization is abandoning the rigid explicit instruction versus minimal guidance dichotomy and replacing it with a more flexible approach based on differentiating specific goals of various learner activities in complex learning. In particular, it may allow reconciling seemingly contradictory results from studies of the effectiveness of worked examples in cognitive load theory (supporting the initial fully guided explicit instruction for novice learners) and studies within the frameworks of productive failure and invention learning that have reportedly demonstrated that minimally guided tasks provided prior to explicit instruction might benefit novice learners.

온라인 학습에서 비구조화된 문제에 대한 해결된 예제 효과

This study has two goals. The first goal is to investigate whether worked examples are effective in the ill-defined domain with on-line learning and the second goal is to find out which components (conceptual or procedural knowledge) of worked examples are effective factor at the given learning environment. We carried out three experiments in which Korean undergraduate or graduate students were working in three or four conditions of worked examples (CWE, PWE, CPWE, or the control group). While experiment 1 conducted in on-line learning environment did not find any effect and difference among groups and also any logical reason for those results, experiment 2 conducted in completely controlled laboratory setting with less knowledgeable students showed the clear difference among groups by the order CPWE, PWE, and CWE. Experiment 3 in which highly knowledgeable and motivated students were presented the same materials in more controlled on-line learning environment indicated the difference among groups by the order CWE, CPWE, and PWE. The results were discussed within the framework of cognitive load theory.