When students are learning to read, the materials supplied typically will include extensive illustrations. The implicit assumption is that the inclusion of such illustrations will assist students in learning to read. Cognitive load theory suggests that this way of formatting learning materials may not be maximally effective as the inclusion of illustrations with written text constitutes redundant information that may interfere with learning. If working memory resources are devoted to the illustrations rather than the text, as is likely with young children, those resources will be unavailable to decipher the text. The elimination of redundant illustrations may thus enhance learning to read. Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of including illustrations in beginning reading materials. Experiment 1 compared reading materials consisting solely of simple prose passages with materials consisting of the same passages plus informative illustrations depicting the content of each passage. Reading proficiency improved more under the no illustrations condition. Experiment 2 compared the informative illustrations with uninformative illustrations. Reading proficiency improved more using uninformative illustrations. Experiment 3 compared uninformative illustrations with no illustrations and found no significant differences between these conditions. These results were interpreted within a cognitive load theory framework. It was concluded that informative illustrations are redundant and so impose an extraneous working memory load that interferes with learning to read.

When students are learning to read, the materials supplied typically will include extensive illustrations. The implicit assumption is that the inclusion of such illustrations will assist students in learning to read. Cognitive load theory suggests that this way of formatting learning materials may not be maximally effective as the inclusion of illustrations with written text constitutes redundant information that may interfere with learning. If working memory resources are devoted to the illustrations rather than the text, as is likely with young children, those resources will be unavailable to decipher the text. The elimination of redundant illustrations may thus enhance learning to read. Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of including illustrations in beginning reading materials. Experiment 1 compared reading materials consisting solely of simple prose passages with materials consisting of the same passages plus informative illustrations depicting the content of each passage. Reading proficiency improved more under the no illustrations condition. Experiment 2 compared the informative illustrations with uninformative illustrations. Reading proficiency improved more using uninformative illustrations. Experiment 3 compared uninformative illustrations with no illustrations and found no significant differences between these conditions. These results were interpreted within a cognitive load theory framework. It was concluded that informative illustrations are redundant and so impose an extraneous working memory load that interferes with learning to read.

Paper-based user manuals that provide assembly and disassembly instructions often do so with a combination of diagrams supported with textual information that clarifies how to perform the tasks. Mobile devices are emerging as a multimedia platform for providing on-demand training due to their portability. Mobile devices have limited screen size; as a result, the text instructions associated with the diagrams can produce clutter and occlusion on the screen. Also, too much information if fed through a single sensory channel (visual) may result in excessive cognitive load on the working memory of the human brain, thus hindering the learning process. In this work, two user studies were conducted to investigate the tradeoffs of using text, voice, and a combination of both modalities on the learning experience in a just-in-time mobile learning scenario. In such a scenario end-users are managing two very visual tasks at the same time; i.e., the primary task of carrying out the assembly/disassembly job and the secondary task of learning how to perform the task.

The value of hierarchy as an essential trait of concept maps and a way to enhance recall is explored in this thesis. Undergraduate students (N = 40) were randomly assigned to one of two groups and completed an 18-question multiple-choice pre-test about the concept of animal physiology. Then each group studied one of two visual organizers that varied in the level of hierarchy used and finally both groups completed the same multiple-choice test. This research was guided by the following two research questions: Do undergraduate science students using expert-created concept maps differ in their ability to enhance their recall of information about animal physiology when compared to students using visual organizers with limited hierarchy? How does prior knowledge affect the recall of students using concept maps and other visual organizers with limited hierarchy? The data collected from the two groups was analyzed using regression analyses, ANOVA, and repeated-measures ANOVA. It was found that the hierarchical concept-mapping group grew more in their recall of information about animal physiology than the visual-organizer group [F(1,38) = 7.70, p = .009]. The results of these analyses were interpreted using the conceptual framework of cognitive load theory. This theory deals with the encumbrance on working memory that subsequently affects how one recalls information. The findings support the contention that hierarchical concept maps confer an advantage in the recall of science concepts when compared to visual organizers with limited hierarchy. This study lays the ground work for a doctoral study with 200 participants separated into four experimental groups (n = 50), with participants separated by high and low prior knowledge and the aforementioned visual organizers. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-06-02 18:28:40.415

In recent decades, research into human cognition has unveiled in-depth insights into the structures and processes involved in the encoding, storage and retrieval of information. As human working memory is limited in both duration and capacity, cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994; Sweller & Chandler 1994; Chandler & Sweller 1991; 1996) asserts that information should be designed in a way that does not mentally overload learners. However, instructional designs rarely take into account cognitive processes when structuring teaching materials. In fact, many traditional forms of instruction were devised prior to fundamental research into cognitive load effects. As a result, learners are often subjected to cognitive overload when required to engage in extraneous tasks that are not directly related to meaningful learning. This is a particular problem for intrinsically complex Shakespearean works, renowned to be some of the most difficult texts students may ever encounter. Acknowledging that Shakespearean texts were written for performance, they are not always studied as such. Frequently, the texts are read around the class, whereby the focus is not dramatic but literary. Therefore, under the current system of study it is necessary to investigate instruction for reading comprehension of Shakespearean texts. Reading Shakespeare's plays will often overwhelm working memory resources and cause comprehension problems due to the many interactive elements of information readers are required to process simultaneously. This is a significant issue as Shakespeare's works hold a great deal of literary, dramatic, and linguistic significance and their study forms a compulsory part of school curriculum and assessment that affects all students from English speaking nations. By tradition conventional modes of instruction for Shakespearean texts require readers to consult disparate sources of information such as footnotes and endnotes that may contain either inadequate or unnecessary detail. Having to search for relevant information and mentally integrate separate sources of text results in a split attention effect and causes high levels of unnecessary cognitive load. As a result, Shakespeare's texts continue to be such a struggle for many students that some educational faculties have started to initiate the removal of Shakespeare from curriculum instead of developing more effective instructional methods for this domain. This study applies cognitive load theory as a means of investigating the comprehension of Shakespeare by testing the effects of explanatory notes integrated line by line with original Shakespearean verse. Previous studies in cognitive load theory have indicated that restructuring material in accordance with cognitive principles can optimise learning. However, the majority of these studies have focused on technical areas.

Cognitive load theory uses the immense size of human long-term memory and the significantly limited capacity of working memory to design instructional methods. Five basic principles: information store principle, borrowing and reorganizing principle, randomness as genesis principle, narrow limits of change principle, and environmental linking and organizing principle explain the cognitive basics of this theory. The theory differentiates between three major types of cognitive load: extraneous load that is caused by instructional strategies, intrinsic cognitive load that results from a high element interactivity material and germane load that is concerned with activities leading to learning. Instructional methods designed in accordance with cognitive load theory rely heavily on the borrowing and reorganizing principle, rather than on the randomness as genesis principle to reduce the imposed cognitive load. As learning fractions incorporates high element interactivity, a high intrinsic cognitive load is imposed. Therefore, learning fractions was studied in the experiments of this thesis. Knowledge held in long-term memory can be used to reduce working memory load via the environmental linking and organizing principle. It can be suggested that if fractions are presented using familiar objects, many of the interacting elements that constitute a fraction might be embedded in stored knowledge and so can be treated as a single element by working memory. Thus, familiar context can be used to reduce cognitive load and so facilitate learning. In a series of randomized, controlled experiments, evidence was found to argue for a contextual effect. The first three experiments of this thesis were designed to test the main hypothesis that presenting students with worked examples concerning fractions would enhance learning if a real-life context was used rather than a geometric context. This hypothesis was tested using both a visual and a word-based format and was supported by the results. The last two experiments were intended to test the context effect using either worked examples or problem solving. The results supported the validity of the previous hypothesis using both instructional methods. Overall, the thesis sheds some light on the advantages of using familiar objects when mastering complex concepts in mathematics.

This study examined mathematics anxiety among elementary teacher candidates, and to what extent it interacted with the modality principle under various degrees of learner-control. The experiment involved a sample of 186 elementary teacher candidates learning from eight versions of a computer program on division with fractions. The eight versions varied in modality of presentation (diagrams with narration, or diagrams with written text), control of pacing (pacing was controlled by either the learner or the system), and control of sequence (sequence was controlled by either the learner or the system). A pre-test, post-test, demographic questionnaire, subjective measure of mental effort, and the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Survey were also administered. This study revealed that mathematics anxiety was significantly positively correlated with mental effort, and significantly negatively correlated with engagement, pre-test and post-test scores. Additionally, a modality x pacing interaction was observed for both high prior knowledge and low mathematics-anxious students. Under system-pacing, the modality effect was observed, and these students achieved higher far transfer scores when learning from the diagrams and narration modality condition. However, under learner-pacing, the modality effect reversed, and high prior knowledge and low mathematics-anxious students performed better on far transfer scores when learning from the diagrams and written text modality condition. Low prior knowledge, and highly mathematics-anxious students performed poorly in all treatment conditions. Additional interactions involving sequence-control, and a four-way interaction involving prior knowledge, modality, sequence-control, and pacing were also uncovered. The results from this study demonstrate that prior knowledge and mathematics anxiety have a complex relationship with the effectiveness of the format of instruction, and the design of instructional materials needs to take into account these individual differences. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-25 19:38:33.9

Cognitive load theory uses the immense size of human long-term memory and the significantly limited capacity of working memory to design instructional methods. Five basic principles: information store principle, borrowing and reorganizing principle, randomness as genesis principle, narrow limits of change principle, and environmental linking and organizing principle explain the cognitive basics of this theory. The theory differentiates between three major types of cognitive load: extraneous load that is caused by instructional strategies, intrinsic cognitive load that results from a high element interactivity material and germane load that is concerned with activities leading to learning. Instructional methods designed in accordance with cognitive load theory rely heavily on the borrowing and reorganizing principle, rather than on the randomness as genesis principle to reduce the imposed cognitive load. As learning fractions incorporates high element interactivity, a high intrinsic cognitive load is imposed. Therefore, learning fractions was studied in the experiments of this thesis. Knowledge held in long-term memory can be used to reduce working memory load via the environmental linking and organizing principle. It can be suggested that if fractions are presented using familiar objects, many of the interacting elements that constitute a fraction might be embedded in stored knowledge and so can be treated as a single element by working memory. Thus, familiar context can be used to reduce cognitive load and so facilitate learning. In a series of randomized, controlled experiments, evidence was found to argue for a contextual effect. The first three experiments of this thesis were designed to test the main hypothesis that presenting students with worked examples concerning fractions would enhance learning if a real-life context was used rather than a geometric context. This hypothesis was tested using both a visual and a word-based format and was supported by the results. The last two experiments were intended to test the context effect using either worked examples or problem solving. The results supported the validity of the previous hypothesis using both instructional methods. Overall, the thesis sheds some light on the advantages of using familiar objects when mastering complex concepts in mathematics.

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has quickly become the industry standard for object-oriented software development. It is being widely used in organizations and institutions around the world. However, UML is often found to be too complex for novice systems analysts. Although prior research has identified difficulties novice analysts encounter in learning UML, no viable solution has been proposed to address these difficulties. Sequence-diagram modeling, in particular, has largely been overlooked. The sequence diagram models the behavioral aspects of an object-oriented software system in terms of interactions among its building blocks, i.e. objects and classes. It is one of the most commonly-used UML diagrams in practice. However, there has been little research on sequence-diagram modeling. The current literature scarcely provides effective guidelines for developing a sequence diagram. Such guidelines will be greatly beneficial to novice analysts who, unlike experienced systems analysts, do not possess relevant prior experience to easily learn how to develop a sequence diagram. There is the need for an effective sequence-diagram modeling technique for novices. This dissertation reports a research study that identified novice difficulties in modeling a sequence diagram and proposed a technique called CHOP (CHunking, Ordering, Patterning), which was designed to reduce the cognitive load by addressing the cognitive complexity of sequence-diagram modeling. The CHOP technique was evaluated in a controlled experiment against a technique recommended in a well-known textbook, which was found to be representative of approaches provided in many textbooks as well as practitioner literatures. The results indicated that novice analysts were able to perform better using the CHOP technique. This outcome seems have been enabled by pattern-based heuristics provided by the technique. Meanwhile, novice analysts rated the CHOP technique more useful although not significantly easier to use than the control technique. The study established that the CHOP technique is an effective sequence-diagram modeling technique for novice analysts.

The intent of this thesis is to guide further research and discussion of C-Print, meaning-for-meaning transcription and its applications to today’s dynamic classroom settings under a Universal Design Paradigm. Evidence suggests that providing these captions can benefit Deaf and Hard of Hearing populations and also that concise, textual representations of information increase retention for average learners in multimedia settings. Individual differences were considered and low internal control participants did significantly better on exams when material was captioned compared to when it was not. They also tended to outperform high internal control participants on captioned material exams.