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Cognitive load theory (CLT) provides strategies for tailoring clinical reasoning training for novice medical students. This commentary highlights the importance of adapting training to the level of preclinical medical students and explores these methods from a CLT perspective to help medical educators apply them effectively in classroom settings., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: While game-based learning has demonstrated positive outcomes for some learners, its efficacy remains variable. Adaptive scaffolding may improve performance and self-regulation during training by optimizing cognitive load. Informed by cognitive load theory, this study investigates whether adaptive scaffolding based on interaction trace data influences learning performance, self-regulation, cognitive load, test performance, and engagement in a medical emergency game., Methods: Sixty-two medical students from three Dutch universities played six game scenarios. They received either adaptive or nonadaptive scaffolding in a randomized double-blinded matched pairs yoked control design. During gameplay, we measured learning performance (accuracy, speed, systematicity), self-regulation (self-monitoring, help-seeking), and cognitive load. Test performance was assessed in a live scenario assessment at 2- and 6-12-week intervals. Engagement was measured after completing all game scenarios., Results: Surprisingly, the results unveiled no discernible differences between the groups experiencing adaptive and nonadaptive scaffolding. This finding is attributed to the unexpected alignment between the nonadaptive scaffolding and the needs of the participants in 64.9% of the scenarios, resulting in coincidentally tailored scaffolding. Exploratory analyses suggest that, compared to nontailored scaffolding, tailored scaffolding improved speed, reduced self-regulation, and lowered cognitive load. No differences in test performance or engagement were found., Discussion: Our results suggest adaptive scaffolding may enhance learning by optimizing cognitive load. These findings underscore the potential of adaptive scaffolding within GBL environments, cultivating a more tailored and effective learning experience. To leverage this potential effectively, researchers, educators, and developers are recommended to collaborate from the outset of designing adaptive GBL or computer-based simulation experiences. This collaborative approach facilitates the establishment of reliable performance indicators and enables the design of suitable, preferably real-time, scaffolding interventions. Future research should confirm the effects of adaptive scaffolding on self-regulation and learning, taking care to avoid unintended tailored scaffolding in the research design., Trial Registration: This study was preregistered with the Center for Open Science prior to data collection. The registry may be found at https://osf.io/7ztws/ ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background & Aims: Cognitive load theory assumes that the higher the learner's prior knowledge (i.e., the more expert the learner), the lower the intrinsic cognitive load (complexity) experienced for a given problem. While this is the case in many scenarios, there can be cases in which the converse is also true, resulting in more expert learners reporting higher intrinsic cognitive load than novices for the same problem. This can occur in relation to problems involving complex systems (e.g., ecological systems), for which novices' problem representations may underestimate problem complexity and therefore report lower intrinsic load than experts. This finding is borne out in the current paper., Samples, Methods & Results: In Study 1 with 118 participants from the Black Forest area in Germany, participants with higher levels of forestry and ecological expertise evaluated a problem relating to the restructuring of the Black Forest to adapt to climate change as more complex than did novices. In Study 2 (within-subjects design, n = 66 primary-school students), we conceptually replicated this finding in a domain more typical of cognitive load theory studies, mathematics. We found that higher prior knowledge also reduced the underestimation of the complexity of 'tricky', but frequently used, mathematics word problems., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that cognitive load theory's assumptions about intrinsic load and prior knowledge should be refined, as there seems to exist a sub-set of problem-solving tasks for which the traditional relationship between prior knowledge and reported ICL is reversed., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Background: Self-management of cognitive load is a recent development in cognitive load theory. Finger pointing has been shown to be a potential self-management strategy to support learning from spatially separated, but mutually referring text and pictures (i.e., split-attention examples)., Aims: The present study aimed to extend the prior research on the pointing strategy and investigated the effects of finger pointing on learning from online split-attention examples. Moreover, we examined an alternative pointing strategy using the computer mouse, and a combination of finger pointing and computer-mouse pointing., Sample: One-hundred and forty-five university students participated in the present study., Method: All participants studied an online split-attention example about the human nervous system and were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: (1) pointing with the index finger, (2) pointing with the computer mouse, (3) pointing with the index finger and the computer mouse and (4) no pointing., Results: Results confirmed our main hypothesis, indicating that finger pointing led to higher retention performance than no pointing. However, the mouse pointing strategy and the combined finger and mouse pointing strategy did not show supportive effects., Conclusions: Finger pointing can be used as a simple and convenient self-management strategy in online learning environments. Mouse pointing may not be as effective as finger pointing., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Background: The present Special Issue contains 9 papers exploring novel cognitive load theory research questions., Aim: To provide a discussion of the 9 articles in this Special Issue of the Journal and to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the papers and indicate opportunities for future studies., Procedure: Briefly summarizes cognitive load theory in its current version followed by the discussion of the 9 individual papers., (© 2023 British Psychological Society.)

The objective of this study was to examine differences in principles from the cognitive load theory (CLT) combined with active learning strategies. To examine these differences, simple to complex activities were imbedded into two active learning instructional strategies: cooperative learning (CPL) and problem-based learning (PBL) and evaluated for its impact on mental effort for learning and intrinsic cognitive load. A two-within repeated-measures design was used in a nursing fundamentals classroom. The simple and complex activities were grounded in recommendations from the CLT and validated by nurse experts. The instructional strategies of CPL and PBL were chosen based on recommendations from the literature. Results revealed no statistically significant differences. A small interaction showed a decrease in mental effort and intrinsic load when problem-based learning was used. Progressing learning activities from simple to complex, informed by the CLT, offers an approach to designing instruction in nursing classrooms when using active learning strategies., (© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Introduction: Cognitive load theory (CLT) views working memory as the primary bottleneck for learning, as it is limited in both capacity and retention. CLT delineates three types of activities that impose on working memory: intrinsic load, germane load, and extraneous load. These three constructs have practical ramifications for direct teaching, learning environments, and curricular design. CLT could help educators across health professions improve quality of teaching, especially in demanding and unpredictable workplace environments. However, few educational resources exist to familiarize clinical workplace educators with CLT., Methods: We developed a 2-hour workshop focused on CLT's core concepts and practical applications, targeted at health professions' workplace educators. It featured large-group, small-group, and individual reflective activities. An end-of-workshop survey was administered, and a follow-up survey was sent to participants 2 months after the workshop., Results: A total of 134 educators attended the first two offerings of the workshop in two different states. Participants considered CLT as relevant to a variety of workplace teaching settings and activities. Participants' self-assessed familiarity with CLT on a 0-100 scale increased from a mean of 36 ( SD = 26) before the workshop to 59 ( SD = 17) after the workshop. At follow-up, participants scored an average of 85% on content knowledge questions. Approximately half of respondents to the follow-up survey stated they had made or planned to make specific changes to their workplace teaching leveraging tenets of CLT., Discussion: The workshop conveyed CLT concepts and primed participants to independently craft CLT-based interventions for their own teaching practices., (© 2020 Venkat et al.)

Self-directed learning (SDL) is a rapidly developing trend in schools, although its prerequisites, such as children's skills and abilities to plan and monitor their own learning, have not been investigated in detail. Due to additional cognitive load it induces, SDL has been in some cases found to be detrimental for learning, especially for students with a lower cognitive capacity. With this study, we explored some of the causes for the variability in learning gains. We examined 111 middle school students' self-directed category learning using an exploratory web-task for autonomous learning, focusing on their information search (browsing a taxonomy of unknown dinosaurs) and their memorization of respective category labels. We were interested to detect whether students' performance in a complex span task (Ospan) was also reflected in their search and learning behavior. Results revealed different learning gain trajectories in the latter task, where higher WMC students were more confident about their learning. Also, the students with lower WMC were found to search the taxonomy by repeatedly searching the same (basic type of) dinosaur exemplar. In line with prior findings about human mental capacity restrictions and cognitive load theory, the present work evidenced the important role of students' resistance to distraction, and its relation to differences in self-directed search and memorizing. The results imply the need to teach metacognitive skills and offer supportive scaffolding in order to avoid cognitive overload in SDL., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Working memory is critical for learning but has a limited capacity for processing new information in real time. Cognitive load theory is an evidence-based approach to education that seeks to minimize the extraneous (unnecessary) load on working memory to avoid overloading it. The "seductive details effect" postulates that extraneous load can come from instructional design materials that attract interest but are unrelated to, and impair, learning. Presentation packages, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, have built-in decorative animated "GIFs" that are designed to make presentations more visually appealing. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of such "decorative" animations on learning and working memory performance. We found that students were less able to recall content presented in the presence of a decorative but relevant animation compared with a still image. This effect was found with two different topics (human physiology and enzyme kinetics). Compared with still images, students also found it harder to remember animations themselves, and the self-reported mental workload required to remember them was higher. These results show that decorative animations are seductive details and are thus a source of extraneous cognitive load.

Objective: For students attending healthcare courses, such as nursing and paramedicine, the ability to calculate medication dosages accurately is an essential but often a complex cognitive skill to be learned. This study aimed to determine whether a 'mastering medication calculation' mobile app, developed using an instructional design based on cognitive load theory, could improve students' medication calculation ability and self-efficacy. Additional objectives were: (1) To examine the correlations between students' medication calculation ability, self-efficacy and their numerical ability; (2) To explore how well medication calculation ability can be predicted by students' numerical ability and their medication calculation self-efficacy; (3) To obtain students' opinions regarding the mobile app's usefulness and usability., Method: A quasi-experimental study was carried out with a convenience sample of 60 second year UK university healthcare students who used the app for 8 weeks while in clinical practice. Students were given medication calculation ability and self-efficacy tests pre- and post-intervention. In addition, they were asked pre-intervention to complete a numeracy test and to complete a post-intervention survey to obtain their opinions on the usefulness of the app., Results: Following the use of the app students were significantly more able (p = 0.004) and more confident (p < 0.001) in performing medication calculations. There were significant positive correlations found between students' numerical ability and medication calculation ability (p < 0.001) and between students' medication calculation ability and self-efficacy (p < 0.001). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated numerical ability (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) and medication calculation self-efficacy (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) to be the strongest predictors of medication calculation ability, with age and gender being non-significant. All students indicated the app to be an excellent method to support them in learning how to perform medication calculations., Conclusion: This study indicated that the app's instructional design, based on cognitive load theory, significantly improved students' medication calculation ability and self-efficacy. Although the app's usability was highly rated by the students, further research is needed to determine if the app's instructional design can be used by learners of different levels of expertise and whether the design can be adopted for the learning of other complex cognitive skills. As numerical ability is essential for medication calculation ability, early identification and rectification of any numerical deficits is recommended., (Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To determine whether and how learning is biased by competing task-irrelevant information that creates extraneous cognitive load, we assessed the efficiency of university students with a learning paradigm in two experiments. The paradigm asked participants to learn associations between eight words and eight digits. We manipulated congruity of the digits' ink colour with the words' semantics. In Experiment 1 word stimuli were colour words (e.g., blue, yellow) and in Experiment 2 colour-related word concepts (e.g., sky, banana). Marked benefits and costs on learning due to variation in extraneous cognitive load originating from processing task-irrelevant information were evident. Implications for cognitive load theory and schooling are discussed.

Issue: The transfer of a patient from one clinician to another is a high-risk event. Errors are common and lead to patient harm. More effective methods for learning how to give and receive sign-out is an important public health priority., Evidence: Performing a handoff is a complex task. Trainees must simultaneously apply and integrate clinical, communication, and systems skills into one time-limited and highly constrained activity. The task demands can easily exceed the information-processing capacity of the trainee, resulting in impaired learning and performance. Appreciating the limits of working memory can help identify the challenges that instructional techniques and research must then address. Cognitive load theory (CLT) identifies three types of load that impact working memory: intrinsic (task-essential), extraneous (not essential to task), and germane (learning related). The authors generated a list of factors that affect a trainee's learning and performance of a handoff based on CLT. The list was revised based on feedback from experts in medical education and in handoffs. By consensus, the authors associated each factor with the type of cognitive load it primarily effects. The authors used this analysis to build a conceptual model of handoffs through the lens of CLT., Implications: The resulting conceptual model unpacks the complexity of handoffs and identifies testable hypotheses for educational research and instructional design. The model identifies features of a handoff that drive extraneous, intrinsic, and germane load for both the sender and the receiver. The model highlights the importance of reducing extraneous load, matching intrinsic load to the developmental stage of the learner and optimizing germane load. Specific CLT-informed instructional techniques for handoffs are explored. Intrinsic and germane load are especially important to address and include factors such as knowledge of the learner, number of patients, time constraints, clinical uncertainties, overall patient/panel complexity, interacting comorbidities or therapeutics, experience or specialty gradients between the sender and receiver, the maturity of the evidence base for the patient's disease, and the use of metacognitive techniques. Research that identifies which cognitive load factors most significantly affect the learning and performance of handoffs can lead to novel, contextually adapted instructional techniques and handoff protocols. The application of CLT to handoffs may also help with the further development of CLT as a learning theory.

Although instruction using expert-generated schemas is associated with higher diagnostic performance, implementation is resource intensive. Learner-generated schemas are an alternative, but may be limited by increases in cognitive load. We compared expert- and learner-generated schemas for learning ECG rhythm interpretation on diagnostic accuracy, cognitive load and knowledge acquisition. Fifty-seven medical students were randomized to two experiments. Experiment 1 (n = 29) compared use of traditional teaching frameworks to expert generated schemas. Participants randomly received either a traditional framework or an expert-generated schema to practice each of two content areas in a crossed design. Learning accuracy and cognitive load were measured during the training phase. Discriminating knowledge and diagnostic accuracy were tested immediately after the training phase and 1-2 weeks after. Using the same methodology, experiment 2 (n = 28) compared use of learner-generated versus expert-generated schemas. In experiment 1, learning from expert-generated schemas was associated with lower cognitive load (13 vs 16, p < 0.001), higher diagnostic accuracy on immediate testing (40 vs 29 %, p = 0.018), and higher discriminating knowledge (81 vs 71 %, p < 0.001). Both groups performed similarly on delayed testing (14 vs 8 %, p = 0.6). In experiment 2, use of learner-generated schemas reduced diagnostic accuracy during the training phase (55 vs 77 %, p < 0.001), with similar performance on the immediate (30 vs 33 %, p = 0.89) and delayed (7 vs 5 %, p = 0.79) testing phases.. Learner-generated schema generation was associated with increased cognitive load (17.1 vs 13.5, p < 0.001). When compared to traditional frameworks, use of an expert-generated schema improved learning of ECG rhythm interpretation. Participants generating their own schemas perform similarly to those using expert-generated schemas despite reporting higher cognitive load.

Health profession educators have identified auscultation skill as a learning need for health professional students. This article explores the application of cognitive load theory (CLT) to designing cardiac and respiratory auscultation skill instruction for senior-level undergraduate nursing students. Three experiments assessed student auscultation performance following instructional manipulations of the three primary components of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load. Study 1 evaluated the impact of intrinsic cognitive load by varying the number of diagnoses learned in one instruction session; Study 2 evaluated the impact of extraneous cognitive load by providing students with single or multiple examples of diagnoses during instruction; and Study 3 evaluated the impact of germane cognitive load by employing mixed or blocked sequences of diagnostic examples to students. Each of the three studies presents results that support CLT as explaining the influence of different types of cognitive processing on auscultation skill acquisition. We conclude with a discussion regarding CLT's usefulness as a framework for education and education research in the health professions.

In two experiments, we compared the effects of practice (real and imitative) with no practice on the observational learning of hand motor skills from animated videos. Experiment 1 investigated learning to play a series of piano clips of varying complexity. Results demonstrated improved learning efficiency with imitative practice compared to no practice. Experiment 2 featured a paper-folding task, and results indicated that real practice led to significantly greater learning than no practice. Furthermore, a significant interaction was found with gender and practice, where females learned best with both real and imitative practice, but males did not benefit from these interventions. However, males outperformed females in the no practice condition. Overall, we found benefits of practice versus no practice for both tasks. However, the most effective type of practice was dependent upon the task: imitative practice for piano playing, and real practice for paper folding. Task complexity and gender were also found to be moderating factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within this integrative review, cognitive load theory (CLT) is asserted as a powerful framework for conceptualizing human cognitive processes within learning. The relationship between cognition and emotion is then examined and further integrated within the scope of CLT. Emotion regulation strategies are discussed and adaptive strategies are proposed as being of particular relevance to broadening the theoretical and practical impacts of CLT. Central to the argument of this review is the use of cognitive reappraisal as a potential mitigator of cognitive load. Cognitive reappraisal involves reframing or reassessing understandings or beliefs that underlie an emotional response, which may mitigate cognitive load imposed by maladaptive emotion. It is proposed that effectively integrating adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal in our pursuit of more effective cognitive functioning will aid in the development of a more integrated model of cognition and emotion within CLT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms that govern biological evolution and human cognition are analogous, as both follow the same principles of natural information processing systems. In this article, we describe the following five principles that provide an analogy between biological evolution and human cognition: (a) Randomness as Genesis Principle and (b) Borrowing and Reorganizing Principle, which indicate how natural information processing systems obtain information; (c) Narrow Limits of Change Principle and (d) Information Store Principle, which indicate how information is processed and stored; and (e) Environmental Organizing and Linking Principle, which indicate how stored information is used to generate actions appropriate to an environment. In human cognition, these analogs only apply to cognitive processes associated with biologically secondary knowledge, the knowledge typically taught in educational institutions. Based on these five principles, cognitive load theory researchers have provided diverse prescriptions to optimize instructional activities and materials. We conclude by discussing general instructional implications and future research directions based on this analogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The economic quagmire the entire world was engulfed in, due to the turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent political unrest experienced in the country, created a severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka in 2022. Hence, this concept paper envisions developing a theoretical model to assess the cognitive load and financial literacy on the investment decisions during a severe economic crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This paper while proposing a deductive approach under the positivist epistemological research philosophy, develops a theoretical model based on the Attribution Theory (AT) as the domain and the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) as the choice of method, to make investment decisions during a severe economic crisis as the phenomenon. Findings: Based on the existing literature, it was theorized that the cognitive load in terms of the intrinsic, extraneous and germane load impact the financial literacy of investors. The financial literacy and economic uncertainty are classified as internal and external controls that affect the investment decisions as per the AT. Originality: This paper proposes a novel theoretical aspect on investment decision making, captivating the economic catastrophe that quivered all economic foundations in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within this integrative review, cognitive load theory (CLT) is asserted as a powerful framework for conceptualizing human cognitive processes within learning. The relationship between cognition and emotion is then examined and further integrated within the scope of CLT. Emotion regulation strategies are discussed and adaptive strategies are proposed as being of particular relevance to broadening the theoretical and practical impacts of CLT. Central to the argument of this review is the use of cognitive reappraisal as a potential mitigator of cognitive load. Cognitive reappraisal involves reframing or reassessing understandings or beliefs that underlie an emotional response, which may mitigate cognitive load imposed by maladaptive emotion. It is proposed that effectively integrating adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal in our pursuit of more effective cognitive functioning will aid in the development of a more integrated model of cognition and emotion within CLT.

IntroductionCognitive load theory (CLT) views working memory as the primary bottleneck for learning, as it is limited in both capacity and retention. CLT delineates three types of activities that impose on working memory: intrinsic load, germane load, and extraneous load. These three constructs have practical ramifications for direct teaching, learning environments, and curricular design. CLT could help educators across health professions improve quality of teaching, especially in demanding and unpredictable workplace environments. However, few educational resources exist to familiarize clinical workplace educators with CLT.MethodsWe developed a 2-hour workshop focused on CLT's core concepts and practical applications, targeted at health professions' workplace educators. It featured large-group, small-group, and individual reflective activities. An end-of-workshop survey was administered, and a follow-up survey was sent to participants 2 months after the workshop.ResultsA total of 134 educators attended the first two offerings of the workshop in two different states. Participants considered CLT as relevant to a variety of workplace teaching settings and activities. Participants' self-assessed familiarity with CLT on a 0-100 scale increased from a mean of 36 (SD = 26) before the workshop to 59 (SD = 17) after the workshop. At follow-up, participants scored an average of 85% on content knowledge questions. Approximately half of respondents to the follow-up survey stated they had made or planned to make specific changes to their workplace teaching leveraging tenets of CLT.DiscussionThe workshop conveyed CLT concepts and primed participants to independently craft CLT-based interventions for their own teaching practices.

Adopting the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) as a framework, the objective of this article is to share information and strategies for assisting students with learning disabilities to be successful in integrated physical education (IPE) settings. The Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) premise is to foster learning by ensuring optimal cognitive loads within the instructional approach (Sweller, 1988). This manuscript presents three Cognitive Load principles: worked example effect, split-attention effect, and human movement effect along with specific implementation examples of these principles within APE settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telehealth is a way for clinicians to deliver care and for patients to access care via the internet. This method of health care delivery has become an expectation of nurse practitioner practice. Rapid-cycle deliberate practice (RCDP) is a technique grounded in cognitive load theory used to teach a sequence of predetermined skills to learners through purposeful skill augmentation and strategic repetition. Throughout the process, students receive feedback based on well-defined objectives. Material is processed from working memory into long-term memory in small portions with the intent to prevent working memory overload. Advanced practice physical assessment in-person simulation laboratory sessions were framed and focused using the RCDP model. In-person sessions were followed by telehealth simulations for the skill area. Both the in-person laboratory and online telehealth visits followed a similar framework: isolate the skill, baseline knowledge, measurable objectives, practice expectations, and evaluation. Leveled telehealth competencies and domain descriptors were used as a guide for the telehealth sessions. Using the RCDP model to facilitate student translation of physical assessment skills from an in-person venue to the telehealth care environment yielded encouraging potential to isolate and evaluate specific skills, address measurable objectives, and identify behaviors that encompass multiple competencies, developmental milestones, and levels of proficiency. The RCDP telehealth simulations showed promise in the education of nurse practitioner students to accomplish key telehealth health assessment behaviors and progression toward readiness for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic, many teachers found themselves making a rapid and often challenging shift from in‐person classroom teaching to teaching in an online environment. As teachers continue to learn about working in this new environment, research in cognitive and learning sciences, specifically findings from cognitive load theory and related areas, can provide meaningful strategies for teaching in this 'new normal'. Objectives: This paper describes 12 tips derived from contemporary research in educational psychology, focusing particularly on empirically supported strategies that teachers may apply in their online classroom to ensure that learning is optimized. Implications for Practice: These strategies are generalizable across age groups and learning areas, and are categorized into one of two themes: approaches to optimize the design of online learning materials, and instructional strategies to support student learning. A discussion follows, outlining how teachers may apply these strategies in different contexts, with a brief overview of emerging efforts that aim to bridge cognitive load theory and self‐regulated learning research. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online teaching and learning have become more prevalent due to the COVID‐19 pandemicScientific research provides guidelines for how to optimize (online) learningA key leading theory that can inform teachers is cognitive load theory (CLT)CLT‐inspired research presents guidelines for improving students' learning What this paper adds?: 12 empirically supported tips are presented to inform online teaching and learning practiceAll 12 tips are inspired by and can be explained by CLTEight tips focus on optimizing the design of online learning materialsFour tips cover instructional strategies that can support students' learning Implications for practitioners: Teachers can use these tips when they design their online learning experiencesAppropriate use of these tips should support the learning processUsing these tips should enhance students' retention and understanding of the materialTherefore, these tips should help students perform better on tests [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning in any context involves acquisition, storage and utilization of information by the human memory system. Teaching and learning in health professions is a complex process since it demands learners interact with a number of novel information and concepts and critically analyze them to make important clinical decisions. Therefore, it is imperative for Instructional designers and instructors in health professions education to optimize learning content by considering the characteristics of memory and learning processes of students. This review explores stages of the human memory system, the process of learning, the various types of cognitive loads a learner experiences while learning, and the implications of these factors on instructional designs on the basis of a fairly new theory in educational psychology – the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). By analyzing the unique features of the processing, storage and retrieval of information by human memory system, this article advocates for health professional educators to plan and design instructional strategies that facilitate student learning.

Dual display desktop computers are becoming more prevalent in the home, workplace, and schools, yet there has been little research into how learning and productivity are impacted by having a second display. One useful method in exploring this question is to measure cognitive load during an intensive learning event. This study compared perceived cognitive load among participants in a military training program using one or two computer displays. Participants using dual monitors reported lower unnecessary cognitive load than participants using one monitor. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Our minds have access to limited cognitive bandwidth when learning new material.The difficulty of the material combined with the learners' previous experience impact how much cognitive load is induced while learning.Cognitive load requirements that exceed the learner's ability can hinder retention.Curriculum developers design lessons to maximize learning and reduce unnecessary cognitive load. What this paper adds: Using a second computer screen on a learner's desktop can reduce extraneous cognitive load by up to 20%.Reducing unnecessary cognitive load increases available bandwidth for learning and increases retention. Implications for practice and/or policy: Adding a second screen to learners' workstations can allow learners to process complex material more easily.Companies and universities can justify costs of additional equipment by increased potential for productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing pharmacology is a complex and content-dense course that is often difficult for educators and students. Cognitive load theory explains why utilizing slide decks for instruction overloads the working memory and impedes processing information into long-termmemory. An instructional design change in a baccalaureate nursing pharmacology course provided an example of understanding the impact of cognitive load theory. The Pharmacology Phamily Project is a multimodal, multiphase assignment in which students created a case study video about a uniquemedication and presented it via discussion board for peer feedback and learning. Student investment improved over traditional past semesters, and student-to-instructor feedback was positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the widespread use of touch screen devices, the effect of the users' fingers on information processing and learning is of growing interest. The present study drew on cognitive load theory and embodied cognition perspectives to investigate the effects of pointing and tracing gestures on the surface of a multimedia learning instruction. Learning performance, cognitive load and visual attention were examined in a one‐factorial experimental design with the between‐subject factor pointing and tracing gestures. The pointing and tracing group were instructed to use their fingers during the learning phase to make connections between corresponding text and picture information, whereas the control group was instructed not to use their hands for learning. The results showed a beneficial effect of pointing and tracing gestures on learning performance, a significant shift in visual attention and deeper processing of information by the pointing and tracing group, but no effect on subjective ratings of cognitive load. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter? Pointing and tracing gestures enhance learning with multimediaThe effect is true for paper based and digital learning instructionsLess is known about the cause of this effect with regard to complex learningDifferent theoretical explanations are currently discussed What our paper adds to this A detailed analysis of the effect using eye‐tracking and touch screen dataEvidence that the effect of pointing and tracing is mediated by eye‐movementsRelevant information concerning the discussion about theoretical explanations The implications of study findings for practitioners Pointing and tracing gestures can guide the learners' visual focus of attentionPointing and tracing gestures can increase the learners' visual attentionPointing and tracing gestures foster information processing when learning with multimediaLearners can or even should use pointing and tracing gestures to support learning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning in any context involves acquisition, storage and utilization of information by the human memory system. Teaching and learning in health professions is a complex process since it demands learners interact with a number of novel information and concepts and critically analyze them to make important clinical decisions. Therefore, it is imperative for Instructional designers and instructors in health professions education to optimize learning content by considering the characteristics of memory and learning processes of students. This review explores stages of the human memory system, the process of learning, the various types of cognitive loads a learner experiences while learning, and the implications of these factors on instructional designs on the basis of a fairly new theory in educational psychology - the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). By analyzing the unique features of the processing, storage and retrieval of information by human memory system, this article advocates for health professional educators to plan and design instructional strategies that facilitate student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semantic diagram tool is proposed in this study in order to structure collaborative problem solving (CPS) based on cognitive load theory (CLT). To investigate its effects on transaction cost and the deepening of user understandings, a comparative quasi‐experiment was designed and conducted with 49 participants from a university in East China. Analysis of group dialogic acts and self‐reported cognitive load showed that a semantic diagram tool can decrease transaction costs during CPS. It can thereby help collaborators invest less effort into those procedural conversations that are necessary for managing social interaction but which do not directly contribute to deepening collaborative learning in the task domain. Data analysis of pretested and posttested domain understanding suggested that learners achieved a greater depth of understanding after CPS supported by the semantic diagram tool. These findings are interpreted in terms of CLT. A semantic diagram tool can release the learner's limited working memory from procedural conversation, creating more working memory capacity for deepening problem understanding. Therefore, this study demonstrates one means whereby a semantic diagram tool functions as a promising technological support to structure CPS. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Group coordination and communication are conducted with a cost, which may impede learning.From the point of cognitive load theory, deep learning would occur when extraneous cognitive load is reduced to its minimal in the learning context.External representations have a positive effect on the cognitive and social dimensions of learning.What this paper adds: Semantic diagram tools can decrease transaction costs during collaborative problem solving (CPS) learning process.Semantic diagram tools can deepen student understanding during CPS.Implications for practice and/or policy: Semantic diagram tools with conceptual and sociocognitive support of CPS are a promising way to stimulate deep learning.The combination of CLT and sociocultural theory is a promising way to deepen our general theoretical understanding of social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visualisations, in the form of Multimedia Digital Learning Objects (MDLOs), offer accounting educators potential efficiency in the creation of effective learning materials. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) can guide instructional design by providing a theoretical framework to help the educator understand the mental processes involved in learning. Recognising the linguistic and cultural differences of international students for whom English is a Second Language (ESL) helps sensitise the educator to the additional cognitive demands that these students face. Visualisations offer a powerful way to increase the efficiency for ESL students’ learning. This paper describes CLT and uses it as a theoretical model to ex-post evaluate the initial introduction of MDLOs, and then to inform and evaluate the modification of those MDLOs. This paper responds to Mostyn’s (2012) call [Cognitive load theory: What it is, why it's important for accounting instruction and research. Issues in Accounting Education, 27(1), 227-245] for accounting educators to recognise the insights of CLT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations are increasingly flooded with large amounts of data on which they base their business decisions. It is thus crucial to visualize relevant data efficiently so that employees are able to extract relevant information most accurately and quickly. However, at present, information visualization research lacks a coherent and evidence based theoretical framework providing clear guidelines on how to design efficient visualizations. When it comes to the use of redundant elements in charts like commonly used data labels, cognitive fit theory and cognitive load theory make different predictions. Whereas the latter assumes that redundant labels generally reduce visualizations’ efficiency due to increased cognitive load, cognitive fit theory predicts increased efficiency for some task types that shall be solved by means of the visualization. In the online experiment presented in this paper, we investigated the effect of data labels in line and bar charts on users’ accuracy and speed in solving chart-related business tasks dependent on different task types. Our results reveal that users perceive charts with redundant labels as significantly more efficient and answer related questions significantly more accurate and faster, which we explain by the help of cognitive fit theory. We provide valuable insights into cognitive processing of charts and encourage graph designers to consider redundant elements as a possible means to increase efficiency under particular circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of mimicking gestures on learning from animations and static graphics. In Experiment 1, 48 university students learned to write Mandarin characters, and in Experiment 2, 44 young children learned to write Persian characters. In both experiments, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions – animations without gestures, animations with gestures, statics without gestures, or statics with gestures. All groups viewed instructional content showing how to write the foreign characters, and then were tested. In the gesturing conditions, participants were required to mimic the character writing at the same time as watching the instructional presentation, and in the non-gesturing conditions, mimicking was prevented. Results from both experiments indicated a presentation-gesturing interaction, where gesturing was an advantage for static graphics but not animations. Experiment 2 found an advantage for animations over static graphics, and gesturing compared to not gesturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent upgrades to cognitive load theory suggest that evolutionary processes have shaped the way that working memory processes cultural and social information. According to evolutionarily educational psychologists, some forms of information are processed with lower working memory loads than other forms. The former are evolutionarily salient and the latter historically recent and evolutionarily novel. Sex differences in evolutionary pressures have resulted in some differences in aspects of associated working memory systems that are relevant to cognitive load theory. For this reason this paper suggests that gender differences in information processing via evolutionary processes is an important consideration that should be added to current theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning from mutually referring but spatially separated text and picture (i.e., split-attention materials) is cognitively demanding. We investigated whether mouse pointing could support learning from split-attention materials in which the related elements between the text and picture were indicated by visual labels or not. One hundred thirty-two university students studied a text and picture about the human nervous system in one cell of a 2 (Mouse Pointing: yes vs. no) × 2 (Labeling: yes vs. no) between-subjects design. Results indicated neither mouse pointing nor labeling had a significant impact on retention, comprehension, and cognitive load ratings. However, there was an interaction between mouse pointing and labeling on comprehension scores, indicating that mouse pointing on labeled materials resulted in worse performance than mouse pointing on unlabeled materials. Eye tracking results revealed that both mouse pointing and labeling led to shorter fixation durations and less fixations on the text and more transitions between text and picture. Labeling also led to longer fixation durations and more fixations on the picture. These findings suggest that mouse pointing and labeling influenced perceptual but not cognitive processing. • Effects of mouse pointing on learning from split-attention examples were studied. • Split-attention examples did or did not contain labels linking text and picture. • Mouse pointing and labeling together led to lower comprehension. • Mouse pointing and labeling led to more transitions between text and picture. • Mouse pointing and labeling influenced perceptual but not cognitive processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile collaborative training is increasingly crucial in today's mobile world, in that much complicated collaborative professional work is being conducted in the field and globally. Nevertheless, this field is lacking in holistic empirical studies to effectively understand this important phenomenon and its challenges. Accordingly, grounded upon cognitive load theory and Bloom's taxonomy, we designed and conducted a set of mobile collaborative training field experiments with 364 participants to examine the impact of the various complexities of cognitive tasks on user performance and perceptions, using a non-interactive vs. interactive mobile training app in both individual and group settings. The study findings provide useful insights into the interplay between cognitive task complexity and user interactions with both peers and technologies in a mobile collaborative training. We found that at the lowest level of cognitive complexity, user performance and perceptions of mobile training achieved the desirable improved results between non-interactive and interactive mobile app use. At the middle level of complexity, no significant differences were found. Surprisingly, at the highest level of complexity, the results indicate that cognitive task complexity and user interactions with both peers and technology significantly decreased user performance and user perceptions of mobile training. This study also offers practical implications whereby educators and training practitioners need to clearly balance the interface design of mobile training systems and different complexity levels of cognitive tasks in various training domains, in order to to achieve the desired training outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive load theory (CLT) was used to redesign a Database Systems course for Information Technology students. The redesign was intended to address poor student performance and low satisfaction, and to provide a more relevant foundation in database design and use for subsequent studies and industry. The original course followed the conventional structure for a database course, covering database design first, then database development. Analysis showed the conventional course content was appropriate but the instructional materials used were too complex, especially for novice students. The redesign of instructional materials applied CLT to remove split attention and redundancy effects, to provide suitable worked examples and sub-goals, and included an extensive re-sequencing of content. The approach was primarily directed towards mid- to lower performing students and results showed a significant improvement for this cohort with the exam failure rate reducing by 34% after the redesign on identical final exams. Student satisfaction also increased and feedback from subsequent study was very positive. The application of CLT to the design of instructional materials is discussed for delivery of technical courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]