Cognitive load theory examines the mental effort a learning task places on working memory. It distinguishes three kinds of load: intrinsic load, the inherent difficulty of the material itself; extraneous load, added unnecessarily by how the material is presented or the task is designed; and germane load, the effort spent building lasting knowledge structures, or schemas, in long-term memory. Because working memory can hold only a small amount of new information at once, the theory argues that instruction should cut extraneous load and manage intrinsic load so more capacity is left for germane load. John Sweller developed the theory in the late 1980s from research on problem solving, and it has since become one of the most cited frameworks in instructional design, though later researchers have questioned whether the three loads simply add together as the original model proposed. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Core ClaimWorking memory has severe limits on capacity and duration, so instructional materials and conditions should be structured to reduce extraneous cognitive load and to manage intrinsic cognitive load, leaving more capacity for the germane load of building durable knowledge. 2 Classification
Education Level FAQs
Why does cognitive load theory favor worked examples over solving problems from scratch?
Because solving problems from scratch uses working memory that learners need for building schemas, and worked examples proved the most efficient condition in a comparison study.
John Sweller developed the theory in the late 1980s while studying problem solving. He and his associates found that learners often use a strategy called means-ends analysis, which requires a relatively large amount of cognitive processing capacity that may not then be available for schema construction. Sweller therefore suggested that instructional designers prevent this unnecessary load by designing materials that do not involve problem solving, and worked examples and goal-free problems are the alternatives named. A later comparison by Paas and Van Merriënboer of worked examples, completion problems and discovery practice found that learners who studied worked examples were the most efficient, followed by those who used completion problems. Experts have more knowledge or experience of a task, which lowers the load it places on them, while novices carry a heavier load.
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Associated With
Both are cognitivist accounts of how the mind manages limited information-processing capacity during learning.
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Source Wikipedia: Cognitive load
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Source Wikipedia: Cognitive load
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1. Cognitive load (Wikipedia)
According to work conducted in the field of instructional design and pedagogy, broadly, there are three types of cognitive loadView the Source 2. Wikipedia: Cognitive load
Wikimedia FoundationTheory section
Working memory, however, is extremely limited in both capacity and duration.
Categories section
The primary aim of the theory is to guide the effective use of this limited cognitive resource by structuring learning conditions and instructional materials in ways that reduce extraneous cognitive load and optimize intrinsic cognitive load.
References, Sweller 1988 citation
Sweller, John (April 1988). Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning. Cognitive Science, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 257-285.
In Group: Information Processing and Cognitive Architecture Theories, Lead
In cognitive psychology, cognitive load is the effort being used in the working memory.
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