Cognitive load

A mind can only remember/hold a specific number of things (5-7) in memory at a time. Therefore we should be specific about what we teach, not overloading the mind.

The cognitive load theory gives us guidelines to design instructions that decrease extraneous cognitive load.

Teachers can help students who are suffering from information overload by letting students know what are the critical elements of the information; in other words, prioritizing the information.

Preparation

• An article describing cognitive load

• Visualization of how cognitive load works

• Another Visualization of how cognitive load works

Exercises

• Cognitive load

Learning Paths

• Groundwork for student learning