According to cognitive load theory, using worked examples is an effective and efficient instructional strategy for initial cognitive skill acquisition for novice learners, as it reduces cognitive load and frees up cognitive resources to build task competence. Contrary to this, productive failure (as well as invention learning, desirable…

In some cases difficult-to-read learning materials lead to better performance than easy to-read materials. This phenomenon is called the disfluency effect and is attributed to a subjective feeling of task difficulty resulting in a deeper learning approach. In two studies (n[subscript 1] = 67, n[subscript 2] = 73) we investigated the impact of…

Classroom role-play is an interactive learning technique with a long history of success, but current attempts to augment it with technology limit the very interactions that make this technique successful. For example, digital roleplay games often engage individual students at a computer, rather than creating rich social interactions among…

Context: Learning how to form accurate and efficient clinical examinations is a critical factor in becoming a competent athletic training practitioner, and instructional strategies differ for this complex task. Objective: To introduce an instructional strategy consistent with complex learning to encourage improved efficiency by minimizing…

The goals of this study were (1) determine the prevalence of various features of representations in five general chemistry textbooks used in the United States, and (2) use cognitive load theory to draw implications of the various features of analyzed representations. We adapted the Graphical Analysis Protocol (GAP) (Slough et al., 2010) to look at…

There is a significant gap in the body of knowledge concerning time-compressed multimedia instruction. Although research indicates that there is no loss in learning through well-designed multimedia instruction compressed at 25%, research is lacking that analyzes the effects of time-compression with learner-control included in the multimedia…

One advantage of using student ratings over observer ratings in measuring teaching quality is seen in the extended observation period they are based on (usually the school year so far). However, it has rarely been investigated to what degree student ratings are nevertheless influenced by occasion-specific characteristics; this is thus the aim of…

Background: Inclusive STEM high schools employ a variety of instructional strategies, including PBL (problem and/or project-based learning) experiences, with the goals of building students' 21st century skills, facilitating long-term academic success, and encouraging pursuit of STEM careers. PBL approaches are central to the goals of inclusive…

The ability to learn in a self-regulated way is important for adolescents' academic achievements. Monitoring one's own learning is a prerequisite skill for successful self-regulated learning. However, accurate monitoring has been found to be difficult for adolescents, especially for learning problem-solving tasks such as can be found in math and…

Digital badges are graphical representations of an accomplishment. Open badges are a subset of digital badges, an image file in which additional data, metadata, are embedded. Not only will an open badge contain a description of the badge, the criteria, the issuer and issue date, but also, when appropriate, standards, tags, expiry date and…

In an experiment, secondary students from Australia and Malaysia (n = 130) were randomly assigned to one of three approaches (equation, unitary, unitary-pictorial) to learn how to solve challenging percentage-change problems. In line with the differential types of cognitive load associated with the three approaches, the unitary-approach group…

In this study the impact of a mobile augmented reality learning environment on motivation, learning effects and cognitive load was tested. Students participated in a two-hour history lesson while using their smartphones to turn static pictures into animations with an Augmented Reality (AR) application. Interest, perceived competence and perceived…

Purpose: Cognitive effort is a clinically important facet of linguistic processing that is often overlooked in the assessment and treatment of people with aphasia (PWA). Furthermore, there is a paucity of valid ways to index cognitive effort in PWA. The construct of cognitive effort has been indexed for decades via pupillometry (measurement of…

Model tracing tutors represent a technology designed to mimic key elements of one-on-one human tutoring. We examine the situations in which such supportive computer technologies may devolve into mindless student work with little conceptual understanding or student development. To analyze the support of student intellectual work in the model…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of redundancy when learning from realistic science materials. Participants received instruction where redundancy was manipulated between text and diagrams with captions, text and diagrams, and text only. Participants reported levels of cognitive load, responded to questionnaire items and…