Die Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) postuliert, dass das Lernen neuer, komplexer Informationen mit einer Belastung des Arbeitsgedächtnisses des Lernenden einhergeht. Nachdem die Theorie erstmals 1988 von John Sweller postuliert wurde, arbeitete eine kleine Gruppe von Forschern an Universitäten in Australien und den Niederlanden an ihrer Weiterentwicklung. Sie entwickelte sich schnell zu einer der populärsten Theorien in der pädagogischen Psychologie und im Instruktionsdesign. Die CLT basiert auf Erkenntnissen der Kognitionspsychologie und geht davon aus, dass das Arbeitsgedächtnis nur eine begrenzte Anzahl von Informationselementen simultan verarbeiten kann, wodurch die Fähigkeit, neue Informationen zu verarbeiten, stark eingeschränkt ist. Auf der Grundlage der CLT wurden eine Reihe von Empfehlungen und Prinzipien abgeleitet, die den Lernenden helfen sollen, ihre verfügbaren kognitiven Ressourcen optimal für das Lernen zu nutzen, um Informationen in Form von Schemata in das Langzeitgedächtnis zu übertragen. Ziel ist es, eine Überlastung des Arbeitsgedächtnisses (d.h. eine kognitive Überlastung) zu vermeiden, da diese das Lernen behindern. Nach der Theorie sind drei Arten von kognitiver Belastung während des Lernens relevant. Während der Intrinsic Cognitive Load (ICL) die Komplexität der zu lernenden Informationen unter Berücksichtigung des Vorwissens des Lernenden beschreibt, wird der Extraneous Cognitive Load (ECL) durch die Gestaltung des Lernmaterials bestimmt, welcher sich negativ auf den Lernerfolg auswirken kann. Während ICL und ECL konzeptionell klar definiert sind, wird die Definition der dritten Belastungsart, des Germane Cognitive Load (GCL), innerhalb der CLT kontrovers diskutiert. In diesem Zusammenhang ist unklar, ob der GCL eine eigenständige Quelle kognitiver Belastung darstellt oder ob er sich lediglich auf die kognitiven Ressourcen bezieht, die der Lernende mental aufwendet, um Schemata aufzubauen. Daraus hat sich in den letzten Jahren eine Debatte darüber entwickelt, ob der GCL überhaupt ein Teil der CLT ist und ob es ausreicht, die kognitive Belastung während des Lernens mit dem ICL und dem ECL zu beschreiben. Auch die Annahme, dass die drei Arten unabhängig voneinander additiv zur Gesamtbelastung beitragen, wurde häufig in Frage gestellt. Neben den offenen theoretischen Fragen innerhalb der CLT stellt die Messung der verschiedenen Belastungsarten die größte Herausforderung für die Forschung dar. Latente Konstrukte wie die kognitive Belastung können nur indirekt gemessen werden, wodurch es umso wichtiger ist, die Reliabilität und Validität entsprechender Messungen zu überprüfen. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist dabei die multidimensionale Messung (d.h. die separate Messung der einzelnen Arten der kognitiven Belastung) sowie der optimale Zeitpunkt der Messung (d.h. während oder nach dem Lernen). Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es daher, die Chancen und Herausforderungen der Messung kognitiver Belastung zu diskutieren. Da die kognitive Belastung in der Praxis häufig mit Fragebögen gemessen wird, wird diese Erhebungsmethode in der vorliegenden Dissertation vorrangig betrachtet. So wurde in einer Metaanalyse überprüft, inwieweit die zu diesem Zeitpunkt verfügbaren Fragebögen in der Lage sind, die verschiedenen Arten kognitiver Belastung reliabel und valide zu messen. Dazu wurden experimentelle Studien aus dem Bereich des multimedialen Lernens herangezogen, in denen die CLT eine ganz wesentliche Rolle spielt. Darüber hinaus wurde aufgrund konzeptueller und psychometrischer Inkonsistenzen der verfügbaren Fragebögen ein neuer Fragebogen entwickelt und validiert, der vor allem den Lernenden helfen soll, besser zwischen den verschiedenen Arten der kognitiven Belastung zu unterscheiden. In einer experimentellen Studie wurde zudem untersucht, wie sich unterschiedliche Komplexitätsgrade innerhalb eines Lernmaterials auf die Gesamtbewertung der kognitiven Belastung durch den Lernenden auswirken. Damit verbunden war die Frage, ob sich Lernende einen Ankerpunkt (z.B. den ersten Eindruck) suchen, von dem aus sie das gesamte Lernmaterial hinsichtlich der kognitiven Belastung bewerten. Insgesamt zeigte sich, dass das Konstrukt der kognitiven Belastung mit hoher interner Konsistenz gemessen werden kann, wobei sich Einschränkungen hinsichtlich der Validität ergaben. So deuten die Korrelationen zwischen den einzelnen Arten der kognitiven Belastung darauf hin, dass die Lernenden nicht ausreichend zwischen ihnen differenzieren können. Dies gilt auch dann, wenn die Items im Fragebogen so formuliert sind, dass die Lernenden erkennen sollten, welche Art von kognitiver Belastung sie beurteilen sollen. Darüber hinaus spiegeln sich die theoretischen Annahmen der CLT nicht immer in den Messergebnissen wider. Es ist unklar, ob diese Ambivalenz auf theoretische Unzulänglichkeiten oder auf Messungenauigkeiten zurückzuführen ist. Forschende sollten ihre Messergebnisse vor diesem Hintergrund kritisch reflektieren. Da es sich bei der kognitiven Belastung um ein dynamisches Konstrukt handelt, dessen Intensität während des Lernprozesses stark variieren kann, werden die Forschenden dazu angehalten, die Messung zu geeigneten Zeitpunkten während des Lernprozesses durchzuführen. Basierend auf den Erkenntnissen dieser Dissertation werden Handlungsempfehlungen für den zukünftigen Einsatz von Fragebögen zur Messung kognitiver Belastung abgeleitet und theoretische Implikationen diskutiert.:Zusammenfassung 3 Summary 5 1 Introduction 7 2 Foundations of Cognitive Load Theory 9 2.1 Human Cognitive Architecture 9 2.2 Evolutionary Educational Psychology 12 2.3 The Construct of Cognitive Load 14 2.4 Types of Cognitive Load 16 3 Cognitive Load Theory in Multimedia Learning 22 4 Measuring Cognitive Load 25 4.1 Physiological Measures 25 4.2 Dual-task Approaches 26 4.3 Self-rating Scales 27 5 Conceptual and Psychometric Issues in Cognitive Load Research 31 5.1 Three-factor Model and Additivity Hypothesis 31 5.2 Reliable and Valid Measurement of Cognitive Load with Subjective Scales 33 5.3 Timing of Cognitive Load Measurement 36 6 Article 1: A systematic meta-analysis of the reliability and validity of subjective cognitive load questionnaires in experimental multimedia learning research 40 7 Article 2: Development and validation of a theory-based questionnaire to measure different types of cognitive load 98 8 Article 3: The distorting role of primacy effects when reporting cognitive load in a learning material with varying complexities 136 9 Discussion 193 9.1 Contributions of this Thesis 193 9.2 Limitations and Future Directions 196 9.3 Conclusion 197 10 References 198 Danksagung 208 / Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) postulates that learning new, complex information places a burden on the learner’s working memory. After the theory was first postulated by John Sweller in 1988, a small group of researchers at universities in Australia and the Netherlands worked to develop it further. It quickly became one of the most popular theories in educational psychology and instructional design. CLT is based on findings in cognitive psychology and posits that working memory can only process a limited number of information elements simultaneously, severely limiting its ability to process new information. Based on CLT, a set of recommendations and principles has been derived to help learners make optimal use of their available cognitive resources for learning in order to transfer information to long-term memory in the form of schemata. The goal is to avoid overloading working memory (i.e., cognitive overload), which impedes learning. According to the theory, three types of cognitive load are relevant during learning. While intrinsic cognitive load (ICL) describes the complexity of the information to be learned, taking into account the learner's prior knowledge, extraneous cognitive load (ECL) is determined by the design of the learning material and can have a negative impact on learning success. While ICL and ECL are conceptually well-defined, the definition of the third type of load, germane cognitive load (GCL), is controversial within CLT. In this context, it is unclear whether GCL is a source of cognitive load in its own right or whether it simply refers to the cognitive resources that the learner mentally expends to build schemata. This has led to a debate in recent years as to whether GCL is a part of CLT at all, and whether it is sufficient to use the ICL and ECL to describe cognitive load during learning. The assumption that the three types additively and independently contribute to the total cognitive load has also been questioned. In addition to the open theoretical questions within CLT, the measurement of the different types of cognitive load represents the greatest challenge for research. Latent constructs such as cognitive load can only be measured indirectly, making it all the more important to examine the reliability and validity of such measures. Of particular importance is multidimensional measurement (i.e., measuring each type of cognitive load separately) and the optimal timing of measurement (i.e., during or after learning). Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to discuss the opportunities and challenges of measuring cognitive load. Since cognitive load is often measured in practice with questionnaires, this thesis prioritizes this survey method. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted in order to examine the extent to which questionnaires available at this time are able to reliably and validly measure the different types of cognitive load. For this purpose, experimental studies from the field of multimedia learning, in which CLT plays a very important role, were used. In addition, due to conceptual and psychometric inconsistencies of available questionnaires, a new questionnaire was developed and validated, mainly to help learners better differentiate between different types of cognitive load. An experimental study was also conducted to test how different levels of complexity within a learning material affect the learner’s overall assessment of cognitive load. Related to this was the question of whether learners seek an anchor point (e.g., first impression) from which they evaluate the entire learning material in terms of cognitive load. Overall, it was found that the construct of cognitive load can be measured with a high degree of internal consistency, although there are limitations in terms of validity. For example, the correlations between the different types of cognitive load indicate that the learners cannot sufficiently differentiate between them. This is true even though the items in the questionnaire are worded in such a way that learners should be able to identify which type of cognitive load they are being asked to assess. Furthermore, the theoretical assumptions of CLT are not always reflected in the measurement results. It is unclear whether this ambivalence is due to theoretical shortcomings or measurement inaccuracies. In light of this, researchers should critically reflect on their measurement results. Because cognitive load is a dynamic construct whose intensity can vary widely during learning, researchers are encouraged to measure it at appropriate times during the learning process. Based on the findings of this thesis, recommendations for the future use of questionnaires to measure cognitive load are derived and theoretical implications are discussed.:Zusammenfassung 3 Summary 5 1 Introduction 7 2 Foundations of Cognitive Load Theory 9 2.1 Human Cognitive Architecture 9 2.2 Evolutionary Educational Psychology 12 2.3 The Construct of Cognitive Load 14 2.4 Types of Cognitive Load 16 3 Cognitive Load Theory in Multimedia Learning 22 4 Measuring Cognitive Load 25 4.1 Physiological Measures 25 4.2 Dual-task Approaches 26 4.3 Self-rating Scales 27 5 Conceptual and Psychometric Issues in Cognitive Load Research 31 5.1 Three-factor Model and Additivity Hypothesis 31 5.2 Reliable and Valid Measurement of Cognitive Load with Subjective Scales 33 5.3 Timing of Cognitive Load Measurement 36 6 Article 1: A systematic meta-analysis of the reliability and validity of subjective cognitive load questionnaires in experimental multimedia learning research 40 7 Article 2: Development and validation of a theory-based questionnaire to measure different types of cognitive load 98 8 Article 3: The distorting role of primacy effects when reporting cognitive load in a learning material with varying complexities 136 9 Discussion 193 9.1 Contributions of this Thesis 193 9.2 Limitations and Future Directions 196 9.3 Conclusion 197 10 References 198 Danksagung 208

Mixed reality (MR) technology is trending in various sectors at the present time. In MR applications, due to the interactions between two realities, the potential of experiencing Cognitive Overload is high. Hence, the present qualitative study has been conducted to broaden the understanding of Cognitive Load in MR interventions. Six participants were recruited for the study who were University students. The study was conducted with an activity, based on a car chasing scenario in police interventions. The participants were instructed to complete a questionnaire after the activity, which was designed based on Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), and thereafter semi-structured interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed through the Thematic Analysis method (TA), which resulted in generating three themes; Prevention of Intrinsic Load, Prevention of Extraneous Load, and Increase of Germane Load. Each theme was divided into categories, and the codes were generated and analyzed under the categories. Our findings elaborate on several elements that influence cognitive load in MR interactions. The major elements of our findings include; Expertise in operating HoloLens and MR, Prevention of Split-attention, Prioritizing and Grouping of information, Vigilance, Design of HoloLens and MR, and Comprehensibility. The study findings can be used in designing MR applications, especially for the use case of police interventions. Yet, we believe that further studies are needed to broaden the understanding of causes and prevention methods of Cognitive overload in MR interactions.

No description available.

No description available.

Reading affects everything we do in life. Sometimes it is difficult to determine how many people have a reading disability, and what tools can be used to overcome it. The main aim of this thesis is to gain insight into how and if audio recordings (audiobooks, talking books or mobile apps for reading) are used in elementary schools by teachers as a tool for pupils with reading disabilities. A quantitative approach was adopted for data collection in the form of a self-administered online survey created by using Sunet Survey software. The survey, with 15 questions in Croatian, was sent to 63 elementary schools in Primorje and Gorski Kotar County in Croatia. The sampling frame consisted of 541 elementary school teachers teaching first through fourth grades. 98 responded to the survey. To support the results, 2 theories were used. The cognitive authority theory to support the notion that teachers play a large role in pupils' relationship with reading, and the cognitive load theory to support the notion that assistive technology can help pupils with reading disabilities. The results elucidate that our sample consists of 96.6% female respondents who are between 45 and 54 years old, have 10 to 20 years of professional experience, and mainly teach first grade. 75% of the respondents currently have and 89.8% used to have pupils with reading disabilities in their class. Although audiobooks are not the most popular tool in Croatia, 63.6% of respondents recognize them as a tool they use. The results also show that schools and school libraries are not sufficiently equipped with tools to help pupils with reading disabilities. Most involvement depends on the individual will of teachers.

Os mapas conceituais são organizadores gráficos utilizados no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem. Sua efetividade em sala de aula é pouco explorada como instrumento avaliativo por alguns motivos como o treinamento dos alunos, na sua elaboração e na devolutiva do professor aos alunos, que pode ser influenciada pela forma de abordagem e recepção. Essa pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar a utilização dos mapas conceituais com proposições incorretas como instrumento avaliativo em uma sala de aula invertida Flipped Classroom. Foi investigado também quais as estratégias de ensino e de aprendizagem utilizadas pelo professor e pelos alunos para se planejarem e se organizarem dentro da disciplina. Três estudos foram realizados para analisar o efeito do mapa conceitual com proposições incorretas no desempenho dos alunos (Estudo 1), como os alunos se prepararam para as aulas e para as provas em uma disciplina cuja metodologia da sala de aula foi invertida (Estudo 2) e quais foram as estratégias de ensino e de aprendizagem utilizadas pelo professor e pelos alunos nessa organização pedagógica (Estudo 3). Participaram dessa pesquisa 86 alunos ingressos na Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo, no primeiro semestre de 2016, na disciplina de Ciências da Natureza. O referencial teórico fundamentou-se na Teoria da Carga Cognitiva de Sweller (1988) e na Teoria Social Cognitiva de Bandura (1986). A abordagem utilizada para a pesquisa foi mista sendo no Estudo 1 e Estudo 2 quantitativa e no Estudo 3 a qualitativa e o procedimento escolhido foi o estudo de caso. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que: o mapa conceitual com proposição incorreta pode ser mais uma ferramenta avaliativa agregada às que são usualmente utilizadas pelos professores em sala de aula; o mapa conceitual com a demanda da tarefa sem direcionamento instrucional foi considerado mais difícil pelos alunos do que o que possuía uma demanda com direcionamento instrucional; a metodologia da sala de aula invertida causou um efeito favorável para que os alunos participassem e se preparassem mais para as aulas e para as provas mesmo que no início tenha havido uma relutância por parte deles; quanto mais estratégias de ensino o professor disponibiliza em suas aulas mais satisfatória e mais eficiente é a interação entre ele e seus alunos, o que propicia devolutivas mais pontuais e assertivas para os alunos promovendo a ressonância pedagógica entre eles professor e aluno. As análises revelaram que os mapas conceituais com proposições incorretas são muito bons para serem utilizados como um instrumento avaliativo, que a diversidade metodológica da sala de aula influenciou positivamente no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem e que as escolhas de estratégias podem potencializar esse processo permitindo a regulação do ensino pelo professor e autorregulação da aprendizagem por parte dos alunos. / Concept maps are graphic organizers used in the teaching and learning process. However, their effectiveness in the classroom is little explored in the literature mainly in the evaluation for some reasons such as the training of students in their elaboration, the amount of differentiated maps for the teacher to correct and in the composition of a scoring system so that they do not become a tool for the superficial and memoristic understanding of the content addressed in the classroom. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of using conceptual maps in an unusual way: elaborated by the teacher of the discipline with incorrect propositions as an evaluation tool within an inverted methodological proposal - Flipped Classroom. The study also verified the teaching and learning strategies used by the teacher and the students to plan and organize their formative process within the discipline. Three studies were conducted to analyze the impact of this conceptual map on student performance (Study 1), as students prepared for classes and for tests with a discipline that inverted classroom methodology (Study 2) and which were the teaching and learning strategies used by the teacher and the students in this pedagogical organization (Study 3). A total of 86 students participated in the study of the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo, in the first semester of 2016, in the discipline of Natural Sciences and the professor of the discipline. The theoretical framework was based on Sweller\'s Theory of Cognitive Load (1988) and on Curative Social Theory of Bandura (1986). The case study approach was used and the methodology adopted was differentiated for the studies: in Study 1 and Study 2 it was the quantitative one and in Study 3 it was used the qualitative one. The results obtained showed that (1) this conceptual map style can be an additional evaluative tool that is usually used by teachers; (2) task instruction on the conceptual map influences the student\'s understanding of knowledge; (3) the methodology of the inverted classroom has a favorable impact on the quantity and quality of time invested by the students in the preparation for the classes and proof; (4) the inverted classroom is a methodology that generates a more active and dynamic participation of the students, which in the first moment causes a reluctance on their part; (5) the more teaching strategies the teacher offers in his classes, the more interaction and punctual feedbacks occur between students and him promoting pedagogic resonance and (6) the more students use learning strategies, the more they excel in the subject. The analyzes revealed that the conceptual maps with incorrect propositions are very good to be used as an evaluation tool, that the methodological diversity of the classroom influenced positively in the teaching and learning process and that the strategies choices can potentiate this process allowing the teacher regulation and self-regulation of student learning.

A key challenge of the learning sciences is moving research results into practice. Educators on the front lines perceive little value in the outputs of education research and demand more “usable knowledge”. This work explores the potential instead of usable artifacts to translate knowledge into practice, adding scientists as stakeholders in an interaction design process. The contributions are two effective systems, the scientific and contextual principles in their design, and a research model for scientific research through interaction design. College student study practices are the domain chosen for the development of these methods. Iterative ethnographic fieldwork identified two systems that would be likely to advance both learning in practice and knowledge for applying the employed theories in general. Nudge was designed to improve students’ study time management by regularly emailing students with explicit recommended study activities. It reconceptualizes the syllabus into an interactive guide that fits into modern students' attention streams. Examplify was designed to improve how students learn from worked example problems by modularizing them into steps and scaffolding their metacognitive behaviors though problem-solving and self-explanation prompts. It combines these techniques in a way that is exceedingly easy to author, using existing answer keys and students' self-evaluations. Nudge and Examplify were evaluated experimentally over a full semester of a lecture-based introductory chemistry course. Nudge messages increased students’ sense of achievement and interacted with students’ existing time management skills to improve exam grades for poorer students. Among students who could choose whether to receive them, 80% did. Students with access to Examplify had higher exam scores (d=0.26), especially on delayed measures of learning (d=0.40). A key design decision in Examplify was not clearly resolvable by existing theory and so was tested experimentally by comparing two variants, one without prompts to solve the steps. The variant without problem solving was less effective (d=0.77) and less used, while usage rates of the variant with problem solving increased over time. These results support the use of the design methods employed and provide specific empirical recommendations for future designs of these and similar systems for implementing theory in practice.

In recent years, research on embodied cognition has inspired a number of studies on multimedia learning and instructional psychology. However, in contrast to traditional research on education and multimedia learning, studies on embodied learning (i.e., focusing on bodily action and perception in the context of education) in some cases pose new problems for the measurement of cognitive load. This review provides an overview over recent studies on embodied learning in which cognitive load was measured using surveys, behavioral data, or physiological measures. The different methods are assessed in terms of their success in finding differences of cognitive load in embodied learning scenarios. At the same time, we highlight the most important challenges for researchers aiming to include these measures into their study designs. The main issues we identified are: (1) Subjective measures must be appropriately phrased to be useful for embodied learning; (2) recent findings indicate potentials as well as problematic aspects of dual-task measures; (3) the use of physiological measures offers great potential, but may require mobile equipment in the context of embodied scenarios; (4) meta-cognitive measures can be useful extensions of cognitive load measurement for embodied learning.

The purpose of the research was to investigate the effectiveness of using multimedia as a means of teaching physical science to learners. The underlying theoretical assumption was that a multimedia presentation would help to reduce the cognitive load experienced by learners when they learn physical science content, compared to a traditional mode of presentation, and that this reduction may have a positive effect on the ease with which they master the content. Physical science learners in Grade 11 viewed a presentation consisting of multimedia screens and screens depicting the learning content in a traditional layout – in order to compare the level of knowledge gained as well as the cognitive load experienced for the multimedia and traditional instructions. Pre- and post-test questionnaires were used to determine the knowledge gained, while cognitive load was measured using a dual-task methodology. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyse the data. The results did not reveal a statistically significant increase in knowledge gained via the multimedia approach when compared to the traditional mode of instruction, but when focussing the analysis on learners with a lower-knowledge base in physical science though, statistically significant results were found. However, no significant results were found to support the hypothesis that multimedia would help to reduce learners’ cognitive load. It was concluded that the multimedia design principles are more effective in increasing knowledge for physical science learners of low-knowledge than traditional instructional designs. / M. Sc. (Psychology)

This research aims to enhance Simulation-Based Training (SBT) applications to support training events in the absence of live instruction. The overarching purpose is to explore available tools for integrating intelligent tutoring communications in game-based learning platforms and to examine theory-based techniques for delivering explicit feedback in such environments. The primary tool influencing the design of this research was the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), a modular domain-independent architecture that provides the tools and methods to author, deliver, and evaluate intelligent tutoring technologies within any training platform. Influenced by research surrounding Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, the resulting experiment tested varying approaches for utilizing an Embodied Pedagogical Agent (EPA) to function as a tutor during interaction in a game-based environment. Conditions were authored to assess the tradeoffs between embedding an EPA directly in a game, embedding an EPA in GIFT’s browser-based Tutor-User Interface (TUI), or using audio prompts alone with no social grounding. The resulting data supports the application of using an EPA embedded in GIFT’s TUI to provide explicit feedback during a game-based learning event. Analyses revealed conditions with an EPA situated in the TUI to be as effective as embedding the agent directly in the game environment. This inference is based on evidence showing reliable differences across conditions on the metrics of performance and self-reported mental demand and feedback usefulness items. This research provides source modality tradeoffs linked to tactics for relaying training relevant explicit information to a user based on real-time performance in a game.