Development of an instrument for measuring different types of cognitive load

Abstract

According to cognitive load theory, instructions can impose three types of cognitive load on the learner: intrinsic load, extraneous load, and germane load. Proper measurement of the different types of cognitive load can help us understand why the effectiveness and efficiency of learning environments may differ as a function of instructional formats and learner characteristics. In this article, we present a ten-item instrument for the measurement of the three types of cognitive load. Principal component analysis on data from a lecture in statistics for PhD students (n = 56) in psychology and health sciences revealed a threecomponent solution, consistent with the types of load that the different items were intended to measure. This solution was confirmed by a confirmatory factor analysis of data from three lectures in statistics for different cohorts of bachelor students in the social and health sciences (ns = 171, 136, and 148), and received further support from a randomized experiment with university freshmen in the health sciences (n = 58).

Who Benefits from Diagrams and Illustrations in Math Problems? Ability and Attitudes Matter

“…We asked students to rate the difficulty and clarity of each problem, as well as to indicate their willingness to do more problems like the one under consideration. Similar questions have been used in previous studies (e.g., Kalyuga et al, 1999;Leppink, Paas, van der Vleuten, Van Gog, & van Merriënboer, 2013). We consider whether visual representations affected students' evaluations of the problems and how students' evaluations aligned with their performance.…”

Learning with desktop virtual reality: Low spatial ability learners are more positively affected

“…Consequently, learning will be impeded and may fail to occur (Sweller, 2010b). The extent to which instructional features contribute to extraneous load or germane load depend on the individual learner and the extent to which the individual learner experiences intrinsic load (Leppink, Paas, Van der Vleuten, Van Gog, & Van Merrienboer, 2013, p. 1058 .…”

Measuring cognitive load in the presence of educational video: Towards a multimodal methodology

“…Here we propose the use of an instrument based on the items developed and validated by Leppink et al (2013; to distinguish between intrinsic and extraneous load while also looking at possible correlations between online psychophysiological measures of cognitive load (eye tracking and EEG) and germane load. This may address the limitation identified by Leppink et al (2014) in the accurate measurement of germane load.…”