The Effect of Task Complexity and Sequence on Rule Learning and Problem Solving

Sweller, John

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1976.tb01546.x

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Learning to solve problems The development of cognitive load theory started in the late 1970s with a focus on students' learning to solve problems (Sweller 1976). According to a widely held belief, students learn problem solving simply by solving problems, which is mirrored for example in the field of teaching mathematics by extensive practice in solving problems in algebra or geometry.…”

Section: History Of Cognitive Load Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Reconsideration of Cognitive Load Theory

2007

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Cognitive load theory has been very influential in educational psychology during the last decade in providing guidelines for instructional design. Whereas numerous empirical studies have used it as a theoretical framework, a closer analysis reveals some fundamental conceptual problems within the theory. Various generalizations of empirical findings become questionable because the theory allows different and contradicting possibilities to explain some empirical results. The article investigates these theoretical problems by analyzing the conceptual distinctions between different kinds of cognitive load. It emphasizes that reduction of cognitive load can sometimes impair learning rather than enhancing it. Cognitive load theory is reconsidered both from the perspective of Vygotski's concept of the zone of proximal development and from the perspective of research on implicit learning. Task performance and learning are considered as related, but nevertheless fundamentally different processes. Conclusions are drawn for the further development of the theory as well as for empirical research and instructional practice.Questions of central importance are: What goes on in the mind of the learner when spoken or written texts with or without static or animated pictures or graphs are presented to him or her? How can the displayed information be adapted to the limitations of the cognitive system?The necessity of adapting instruction to the constraints of the learner's cognitive system has been the main concern of cognitive load theory, which has been developed by John Sweller and his colleagues and which has become increasingly influential in instructional psychology (cf. Sweller et al. 1998). The fundamental claim of this theory is that without knowledge about the human cognitive architecture the effectiveness of instructional design is likely to be random. More specifically, cognitive load theory argues that many traditional instructional techniques do not adequately take into account the limitations of the human cognitive architecture, as they unnecessarily overload the learner's working memory, the central "bottleneck" of his/her cognitive system. Accordingly, cognitive load theory tries to integrate knowledge about the structure and functioning of the human cognitive system with principles of instructional design.Numerous empirical studies have demonstrated that traditional instruction can and should be re-designed according to principles of cognitive load theory, and that this re-design results in better learning. However, there are also numerous conceptual problems related to cognitive load theory, which sometimes make interpretation of empirical findings difficult. Although the concept of cognitive load has been frequently described in general terms and although definitions have been provided for different kinds of cognitive load, a closer look reveals that the exact nature of these different kinds of load is not sufficiently clear yet. Further clarification is needed regarding the relations between different kinds of ...

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Section: History Of Cognitive Load Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Reconsideration of Cognitive Load Theory

2007

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“…From these definitions it can be seen that many puzzles fit the specified conditions of the MOVE category. Three such puzzles have featured prominently in human problem-solving research: The Tower of Hanoi problem (Ewert and Lambert, 1932;Cook, 1937;Gagne'and Smith, 1962;Sweller, 1976;Kotovsky, Hayes and Simon, 1985), The Water-jar problem (Luchins, 1942;Polson, 1976, Sweller andGee, 1978), and the Missionaries and Cannibals problem (Greeno, 1974;Simon and Reed, 1976;Jeffries, Polson, Razran, and Atwood, 1977). CHANGE problems (Greeno, 1978a) tend to be more mathematical in nature, involving formal proofs and highly deductive exercises.…”

Section: Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the rule can be deduced and applied by a problem-solver, then the problem-solver is said to be using rule-induction. Sweller (1976Sweller ( , 1983 has frequently associated Rule Induction with Hypothesis Testing Theory (Levine, 1975), requiring feedback from stimulus-response type situations.…”

Section: Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locus of Difficulty in Multistage Mathematics Problems

Ayres¹,

Sweller²

1990

The American Journal of Psychology

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“…Sweller [12] found that the simple-complex sequence resulted in a higher performance speed for tasks involving rule-learning. However, for problem-solving tasks, task sequence was irrelevant for the type of problem used and did not significantly affect the speed of problem solving.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of sequence and context in structurally‐related problems

Jurdak

1985

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and

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The role of the contextual settings of problems and of the order in which special, analogous, and general cases of a target problem are solved prior to the target problem are investigated in as much as they improve the level of reasoning as denned by SOLO taxonomy. A sample of 108 students from grades six to ten was administered two booklets of problems, each including, in a random order, a target problem in two settings (mathematical and real world) and special, analogous, and general cases. Results indicate that the choice of sequence across students is consistent for structurally equivalent problems but not for nonequivalent problems. The analogous-specific sequence seems to have an advantage in improving the level of reasoning in solving the target problem and the linguistic context is a critical factor in the internal representation of a problem, especially for second-language readers.

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The Effect of Task Complexity and Sequence on Rule Learning and Problem Solving

Cited by 26 publications

References 1 publication

A Reconsideration of Cognitive Load Theory

A Reconsideration of Cognitive Load Theory

Locus of Difficulty in Multistage Mathematics Problems

The role of sequence and context in structurally‐related problems

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