Cognitive-Load Theory: Methods to Manage Working Memory Load in the Learning of Complex Tasks

Fred Paas; Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer

doi:10.1177/0963721420922183

Cognitive-Load Theory: Methods to Manage Working Memory Load in the Learning of Complex Tasks

Fred Paas^*, Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

65 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

Cognitive-load researchers attempt to engineer the instructional control of cognitive load by designing methods that substitute productive for unproductive cognitive load. This article highlights proven and new methods to achieve this instructional control by focusing on the cognitive architecture used by cognitive-load theory and aspects of the learning task, the learner, and the learning environment.

Original language	English
Article number	0963721420922183
Pages (from-to)	394-398
Number of pages	5
Journal	Current Directions in Psychological Science
Volume	29
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420922183
Publication status	Published - Aug 2020

Keywords

cognitive-load theory
working memory
instructional design
mental effort
INSTRUCTIONAL-DESIGN
WORKED EXAMPLES
ENVIRONMENT
ARCHITECTURE
PERFORMANCE
MODEL

Access to Document

10.1177/0963721420922183Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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abstract = "Cognitive-load researchers attempt to engineer the instructional control of cognitive load by designing methods that substitute productive for unproductive cognitive load. This article highlights proven and new methods to achieve this instructional control by focusing on the cognitive architecture used by cognitive-load theory and aspects of the learning task, the learner, and the learning environment.",

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