For those of you that are not familiar with cognitive load theory and are involved in teaching, I feel that the insights that it provides are well worth reflecting on. Cognitive load theory as I understand it, describes the amount of information that a person can handle at any given time. It can be found both in the long term storage and the short term access (RAM) cognitive areas. It can be divided up into three broad categories; intrinsic , extraneous and germane cognitive load. Intrinsic load refers to a topics level of difficulty. High intrinsic load relates to a difficult topic that contains abstract ideas which learners often do not have prior experiences that would allow greater ease of understanding. Learning organic chemistry is difficult. It is a foreign concept to most, especially when one tries to understand the complex processes that are involved in organic chemical reactions and their mechanisms. Another intrinsically loaded topic is that of unit analysis in science. I recall an experience of trying to teach this to students over the course of three days only to have the top level students really understand it.
Extraneous load is something that we as educators are occasionally guilty of creating. This refers to those times when you have made something much more difficult than it is. An example would be in those situations when you are trying to teach a concept and truly do not entirely understand yourself. You fumble through a lesson without properly looking into what would be the best examples to use in your explanation or even worse you have not worked through the examples yourself. It is important to reduce extraneous load, make information more accessible as opposed to making it more difficult.
Third in the cognitive load theory considerations is that of the germane load, ". . .germane cognitive load is the load required for schema formation and automation" (Ayers, 2006, p. 287). An example that Sweller (1998) provides in the development of schema is that of a child learning to read (p.255). A child must learn to recognize letters initially and then combining those letters into words. The letters may appear in a number of different forms. This information is stored in long term memory providing a reservoir of information for an individual to draw upon. This germane load has a positive effect on learning, particularly when it comes to the acquisition of skills.
In addition to the three aspects of cognitive load theory I would like to talk about four effects that impact classroom learning; modality effect, split attention effect, worked examples and expertise reversal effects. The modality effect refers to situations where two different modes of instruction are being combined together to enhance a learners experience. This could be as simple as the audio and video components of a presentation. The two modes of interaction lead to an enhanced experience of the material and thus a greater understanding of the information.
On the other hand, the split attention effect is one where a learner is exposed to too many modes. A common example of this would be in a classroom setting where a student is trying to take notes off of an overhead or power point presentation and the instructor continues to talk about the information on the slide, providing additional and extraneous information. This leads to a decrease in the learner's experience. The student does not know whether to listen to the instructor or focus on the notes. Essentially they are left floundering and in a state of suspension as they try to decide what information is more important. Another example would be watching a foreign movie where there are subtitles. The observer will more often than not tune out the dialogue that is happening on the screen as they can only focus on the information that is presented in the subtitles.
Chalk and talk where a teacher takes time to work step by step through a problem to obtain a solution is often thought of as an out of date approach to teaching. It has its place in learning. Worked examples pertain to a method of instruction where a step by step approach is the best way to explore a solution to a problem. It is much more difficult for a student to understand the solution to the problem when given the entire solution all at once. There are barriers that are created cognitively for the learner as they do not have the proper schema to understand the why each step was done. Thus when dealing with information that requires a step wise approach, ensure that you take the time to gradually work through examples that build up in a conceptually sequential way. Chalk and talk does have its place in a classroom.
Finally, have you ever had the situation where your students understand the information and have adequately developed the schema to solve the problems that you are giving them? In those situations it is actually detrimental to continue to provide the slow step wise approach to the solution. As the expert reversal effect comes into play learners are actually hindered by the slow stepwise methodology. Students are in a position that you are providing extraneous information that they do not require to understand the information. Their attention will be split as they try and work ahead of you to solve the problem.
Consideration of the cognitive load theory and the four learner effects that I highlighted here bring to light the complexity of the teaching profession. As teachers we are required to address the individual needs of all learners in the classroom being mindful of our instructional design. We also need to be aware of the fact that students are going to be in a number of different learning states throughout our lessons. Being mindful creating a learning environment where germane load is increased, intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load are reduced and paying attention to the design of the lesson with regards to the modality, split attention, expert reversal effects and worked examples will lead to better student outcomes.
References
Ayers, P. (2006). Impact of reducing intrinsic cognitive load on learning in a mathematical domain. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 287-298
Sweller, J. (2006). Discussion of emerging topics in cognitive load research: Using learner and information characteristics in the design of powerful learning environments'. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20(3), 353-357.
Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J. and Paas, F. (1998) Cognitive Architecture and Instrucitonal Design. Educational Psychology Review 10(3), 251-296
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