After a brief challenge hiatus, I decided that this week I would make a comeback. I’ve been swamped with work lately (not a bad problem to have), but was welcomed by some cognitive overload (goody!) earlier in the week and thought that this week’s challenge would be a great opportunity to (briefly) discuss Cognitive Load Theory. I would be lying if I said that my recent addiction to Lumosity wasn’t a motivating factor for wanting to discuss this topic…that rule game…with the words (or shapes)?! Come on! If that doesn’t scream German Cognitive Load…I don’t know what does!
The Concept
Select an Instructional Design (or learning) concept and create an interaction to explain this concept to others. Originally, I was going to do something related to Bloom’s Taxonomy, but 1 – I’m all Bloom’ed out for one month (to be honest) and 2 – there were already some great BT interactions kicking around the challenge thread, so I decided to choose Cognitive Load Theory as I often encounter training materials that are overloading (and overwhelming) learners to the point of becoming a hinderance on success.
Honestly, it is ESSENTIAL for anyone who develops instructional materials to be cognizant of Cognitive Load Theory. I once worked on a very complex project that sought to explain alternating and direct current flow on an aircraft…while the project ended up being a success (to the clients), I experienced a lot of cognitive overload and hopefully I was the only one – while successful to the administrators of the program, I really hope it was successful for students because it confused the pants right offa me! No amount of explaining Extraneous Cognitive Load was going to save me from that project.
The Method
When thinking about Cognitive Load Theory, I immediately think about those complicated mathematical equations you would see people writing on university chalkboards in the movies (or maybe in your high school calculus class) – BARF. These equations would give me the math sweats. I would clam up and panic, and DREAD my teacher calling on me to come solve the equation in front of the class (seriously – whose idea of fun is this?!). I consulted The Google and sourced some images of complex and simple mathematical equations to illustrate my point.
Then, I provided some explanations and examples of the three types of Cognitive Load, using hotspot interactions and layers. The tutorial was brief, I know, but to supplement, I included a few good links in the Resources tab, and folks can check them out if they so wish.
The Result
To view the complete interaction, Click Here.
I really like this weeks e-learning challenge. If I was to get started I think “Instructional design timeline” would be the most fun for me!
I’m struggling with some cognitive load problems in the course I’m mapping out right now! I want it to be in-depth, but man, there’s just SO much I could include… but I gotta figure out how much is the right amount!
Welcome back, Ashley!!
Love your interaction and break down of Cognitive Load Theory. I’ve taken far too many courses that made me want to scream because of the amount of information.
Thanks for sharing your challenges with us. I’ve enjoyed following them.
Really excellent overview of Cognitive Load Theory. I did not think it was too much to handle at one time! 😉
Thanks, Andrew!