Cognitive Load Theory and Its Relationships with Motivation: a Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Abstract

Although cognitive load theory research has studied factors associated with motivation, these literatures have primarily been developed in isolation from each other. In this contribution, we aimed to advance both fields by examining the effects of instructional strategies on learners’ experience of cognitive load, motivation, engagement, and achievement. Students (N = 1287) in years 7–10 in four Australian high schools completed survey measures of motivation, engagement, cognitive load, and their teachers’ perceived instructional strategies and motivating style. Results suggest that teachers’ load-reducing instructional strategies were related to lower cognitive load and were positively associated with relative autonomous motivation, engagement, and achievement. Teachers’ motivating styles characterized by autonomy support and structure were also associated with reduced extraneous and intrinsic cognitive load, as well as motivation and engagement. We conclude that by using load-reducing strategies and a motivating style characterized by structure and autonomy support, teachers can reduce students’ cognitive load and improve their self-regulated motivation, engagement, and achievement. In so doing, we discuss a number of future avenues for the joint study of self-determination theory and cognitive load theory, with the aim of refining and extending both perspectives.

Using Technology-Supported Approaches for the Development of Technical Skills Outside of the Classroom

“…The fact that we have been able to successfully operationalise the framework supports the original work upon which the framework is based. However, through the framework design, we have been able to further the conceptual requirements needed for good longitudinal simulation design by including considerations of motivation and cognitive load [36,43,46], the learner environment [7], assessment design [54,59] and validity [40]. Moreover, through the considered implementation of technology, we have been able to successfully implement an approach to provide meaningful external feedback for a simulation undertaken in an off-campus situation, which is a significant advancement over what has been described previously [5,53].…”

“…Two of the key motivators identified were as follows: (1) self-efficacy [44,45], which speaks to the expectancy of success or failure, meaning that the initial simulated task must seem readily achievable. Therefore, the staging of the simulation difficulty is likely to be important not only from the perspective of cognitive load [36] but also for motivation, to which recent data support a relationship [46]; and (2) the perceived 'value' or anticipated result of the task to be undertaken, which can also be positively or negatively affected by social influences, which will impact intrinsic and intrinsic motivation [47]. The value influence suggests that (a) it is essential for learners to realise the importance of how the skill supports their professional activities, and (b) consideration needs to be given to the environment in which they are learning because a competitive environment can reinforce the prevalence of a fixed mindset [43,48], which is the opposite of the growth mindset required to accept and respond to feedback [49].…”

Visualizing the Future of Medical Communication: Infographics and Their Impact on Academic Medicine

“…Infographics manifest 2 educational goals exceedingly well: they synthesize a subject into its vital components while simultaneously leveraging imagery to better imprint knowledge. Individuals have a limited amount of working memory and overload of that capacity diminishes learning, per cognitive load theory 5 . The distillation of information into images with limited text in infographics can efficiently identify relevant information, reduce nonessential inputs, and offer an easy-to-understand organizational structure of the information, improving the efficiency of learning.…”

Effects of Design-Based Learning Arrangements in Cross-Domain, Integrated STEM Lessons on the Intrinsic Motivation of Lower Secondary Pupils

“…Feldon et al [58] attribute "costs in terms of motivation" to an increased level of cognitive load. Evans et al [59] (p. 20) conclude from the results of their study of 1274 high school students that teacher instructions reducing the cognitive load have a positive effect on intrinsic motivation.…”