How does conceptual structure of external representations contribute to learning? This investigation considered the influence of generative concept sorting and of external structure information moderated by perceived difficulty. In Study 1, undergraduate students completed a perceived difficulty survey and comprehension pretest, then a sorting…

Concept maps are assumed to enhance learning as their inherent structure makes relations between information more salient. Nevertheless, research on how to design concept maps as conducive to learning as possible is still rare. In particular, the salience of spatial arrangement of thematically related concepts within the map as well as the…

The field of instructional design has traditionally treated concepts as discrete learning outcomes. Theoretically, learning concepts requires correctly isolating and applying attributes of specific objects into their correct categories. Similarity views of concept learning are unable to account for all of the rules governing concept formation,…