Computer-based multimedia learning environments — consisting of pictures (such as animation) and words (such as narration) — offer a potentially powerful venue for improving student understanding. How can we use words and pictures to help people understand how scientific systems work, such as how a lightning storm develops, how the human respiratory system operates, or how a bicycle tire pump w...

During skill execution, performers have been shown to attend to different aspects of movement, the external effects of one’s action, or to other environmental information. A variety of psychological mechanisms have been proposed to account for the differential outcomes when adopting each attentional strategy. However, there is limited information about the extent to which different attentional ...

Introduction Results from experimental research in instructional psychology imply that a deep menu structure of e-learning website may provide useful segmentation. However, depth also increases the need for navigation and thus, might have impairing effects on learning. Furthermore, support can be provided by including checklist, to ensure learners reflect their study progress. The aimed at inve...

The effects of individual versus group learning (in triads) on efficiency of retention and transfer test performance in the domain of biology (heredity) among 70 high-school students were investigated. Applying cognitive load theory, the limitations of the working memory capacity at the individual level were considered an important reason to assign complex learning tasks to groups rather than t...

Cognitive load theory is considered universally applicable to all kinds of learning scenarios. However, instead a universal method for measuring cognitive that suits different contexts or target groups, there great variety assessment approaches. Particularly common are subjective rating scales, which even allow the three assumed types in differentiated way. Although these scales have been prove...

This article presents two longitudinal studies that investigated expertise reversal effects in journal writing. In Experiment 1, students wrote regular journal entries over a whole term. The experimental group received a combination of cognitive and metacognitive prompts. The control group received no prompts. In the first half of the term, the experimental group applied more cognitive and meta...

Minimizing user cognitive load is suggested as an integral part of human-centered design, where a more intuitive, easy to learn and adaptive interface is desired. In this context, it is difficult to develop optimal strategies to improve the design without first knowing how user cognitive load fluctuates during interaction. In this study, we investigate how cognitive load measurement is affected...