Educational researchers have been confronted with a multitude of definitions of task complexity and a lack of consensus on how to measure it. Using a cognitive load theory-based perspective, we argue that the task complexity that learners experience is based on element interactivity. Element interactivity can be determined by simultaneously…

Background and Aims: The long-standing aim of cognitive load theory (CLT) has been to generate instructional design principles that show teachers how to instruct students effectively, based on knowledge of the intricacies of human cognitive architecture. Historically, the focus of CLT has been on identifying cognitive processes related to learning…

In cognitive load theory, the superiority of the Example-Problem sequence over the Problem-Example sequence has become a classic paradigm. The comparative effectiveness of these sequences, however, is subject to the influence of the factors of element interactivity and prior knowledge, and studies have examined these influences focused mostly on…

Spaced and interleaved practices have been identified as effective learning strategies which sometimes are conflated as a single strategy and at other times treated as distinct. Learning sessions in which studying information or practicing problems are spaced in time with rest-from-deliberate-learning periods between sessions generally result in…

Within the framework of cognitive load theory, the element interactivity and the expertise reversal effects usually are not treated as closely related effects. We argue that the two effects may be intertwined with the expertise reversal effect constituting a particular example of the element interactivity effect. Specifically, the element…

A 2 (learning strategies: diagram vs. summary) × 2 (levels of expertise: low vs. high) experiment was conducted to compare the effectiveness of using diagrams to writing summaries for students given biological information to learn and who possessed different levels of expertise in that topic area. A main effect of learning strategy used on number…

Depletion of limited working memory resources may occur following extensive mental effort resulting in decreased performance compared to conditions requiring less extensive mental effort. This "depletion effect" can be incorporated into cognitive load theory that is concerned with using the properties of human cognitive architecture,…

This paper describes a design-based implementation research (DBIR) approach to the development and trialling of a new generation massive open online course (ngMOOC) situated in an instructional setting of undergraduate mathematics at a regional Australian university. This process is underscored by two important innovations: (a) a basis in a…

The worked example effect indicates that examples providing full guidance on how to solve a problem result in better test performance than a problem-solving condition with no guidance. The generation effect occurs when learners generating responses demonstrate better test performance than learners in a presentation condition that provides an…