Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
John Sweller (born 1946) is an Australian educational psychologist who is best known for formulating an influential theory of cognitive load. [1] He is currently (i.e., 2020) Professor Emeritus at the University of New South Wales .
Cognitive load theory was developed in the late 1980s out of a study of problem solving by John Sweller. [2] Sweller argued that instructional design can be used to reduce cognitive load in learners.
[3] [full citation needed] According to Sweller: "The worked example effect is the best known and most widely studied of the cognitive load effects". [4]: 165 Worked examples improve learning by reducing cognitive load during skill acquisition, and "is one of the earliest and probably the best known cognitive load reducing technique".
Chandler and Sweller found through empirical study that the integration of text and diagrams reduces cognitive load and facilitates learning. [5] They found that the split-attention effect is evident when learners are required to split their attention between different sources of information (e.g., text and diagrams).
[3] [5] Cognitive load theory assumes that a learner's existing cognitive resources can influence the effectiveness of instructional techniques. [6] The goal of any learning task is to construct integrated mental representations of the relevant information, which requires considerable working memory resources.
"Cognitive load theory suggests that the free exploration of a highly complex environment may generate a heavy working memory load that is detrimental to learning". [attribution needed] [17] Beginning learners do not have the necessary skills to integrate the new information with information they have learned in the past. Sweller reported that ...
Sweller and others published a series of studies over the past twenty years that is relevant to problem-based learning, concerning cognitive load and what they describe as the guidance-fading effect. [40] Sweller et al. conducted several classroom-based studies with students studying algebra problems. [41]
The cognitive perspective focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning as well as how the brain works. [7] The emotional perspective focuses on the emotional aspects of learning, like motivation, engagement, fun, etc. [8] The behavioural perspective focuses on the skills and behavioural outcomes of the learning process. Role-playing ...