Cognitive Load: Examples In The Classroom

Question 1

Answer 1

Question 2

STRATEGY 1

Answer 2

Question 3

STRATEGY 2

Answer 3

Question 4

STRATEGY 3

Answer 4

Question 5

STRATEGY 4

Answer 5

Question 6

STRATEGY 5

Answer 6

Question 7

STRATEGY 6

Answer 7

Question 8

STRATEGY 7

Answer 8

Question 9

When tailoring lessons according to students’ existing knowledge and skill, teachers should consider the number of…

AND

the ….. ……… of the student

Answer 9

1. The number of different pieces of information that need to be understood together to make sense of the material.
   For example, the knowledge that one added to one equals two is not very complex, because it only has a few pieces of information that need to be understood together. On the other hand, an advanced arithmetic equation is quite complex because it has lots of different pieces that all need to be understood together.
2. The prior knowledge of the student.
   Information that is complex for a beginner might be simple for an expert. For example, a student who is just learning to read might find the task of reading the word ‘cat’ complex, but an expert reader will find this too easy and will benefit from being challenged more.

Question 10

What is the ‘part-whole’ approach? (1)

Answer 10

The teacher breaks the complex task down into a series of sub-tasks, and gradually builds the students’ skills at solving each sub-task before eventually bringing the sub-tasks together in the whole task.

Question 11

What is the ‘whole-part’ approach? (1)

Answer 11

The teacher introduces the whole task to students from the beginning, but then directs their attention to each sub-task. This context can help students to understand how each of the sub-tasks interact with each other.

Question 12

When teaching new content to students without much pre-existing knowledge, teachers should provide students with lots of d……. , f…. g….. instruction. (1)

Answer 12

When teaching new content to students without much pre-existing knowledge, teachers should provide students with lots of detailed, fully guided instruction.

Question 13

As the students’ knowledge and skill increases, teachers should provide a mix of g….. i………. and p……-s…… p……. . (1)

Answer 13

As the students’ knowledge and skill increases, teachers should provide a mix of guided instruction and problem-solving practice.

Question 14

Finally, as students become very proficient, teachers should provide m…… g……. and allow students to practise their skills with lots of p……-s…… tasks. Some students will progress to i………. p……-s…… faster than others. (1)

Answer 14

Finally, as students become very proficient, teachers should provide minimal guidance and allow students to practise their skills with lots of problem-solving tasks. Some students will progress to independent problem-solving faster than others

Question 15

When improving narratives to include effective similes, the teacher should… (1)

R….. d………
R… a f……. t…
I……. similes
Draw a scary monster
Create t…. o.. s……
M…. writing by t……. a….

Answer 15

Recap definition
Read a familiar text
Identify similes
Draw a scary monster
Create their own similes
Model writing by thinking aloud

Question 16

How might examples of teaching contractions gradually build using examples? (2)

Answer 16

Include a fully worked example first. Move onto an almost identical example (they add). Give more examples where the same rule applies. Finish with more complex or multiple examples.

Question 17

Answer 17

Question 18

A Year 8 Spanish class is practising translating and interpreting a range of texts. The aim of this lesson is for students to prepare a written transcription of a newspaper article from Spanish into English. The students already have a strong grasp of all the vocabulary used in the newspaper article, and have been regularly using these words in their lessons.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? (3)

Answer 18

The teacher provides the students with the text of the article in Spanish. Because he knows the students already have a strong grasp of the vocabulary used in the lesson, he does not include definitions of the key vocabulary in the text. The teacher asks the students to read the text and translate it into English.
Because he has considered his students’ existing knowledge and adjusted the lesson by not including translations that the students already know, the teacher has successfully managed the load on his students’ working memories.

Question 19

In this type of lesson it is very common to use verbal explanations and written text at the same time. For example, the teacher might show their students a quote on a PowerPoint slide, and also read the quote aloud at the same time. But presenting the same information in two forms is … (4)

Answer 19

… redundant – students’ working memories can become overloaded when they are required both to listen and to read at the same time.

Question 20

When presenting written text in a lesson, the best strategy to avoid overloading students’ working memories is for the teacher to either …. or … (4)

Answer 20

… read the text out loud (without presenting it on the slide), or allow the students to read it themselves – not both.

It is still okay for the teacher to read the text out loud and present a relevant image or diagram on the PowerPoint slide at the same time – see Strategy 6.
While providing the same information in both written and spoken forms can overload working memory,

Question 21

To mitigate split-attention effect problem, the teacher can… (4)

Answer 21

… present text in smaller chunks

… allow students to direct the pace of learning

Question 22

How can we mitigate the problem of overload in visual images (such as complex keys on maps)? (4)

Answer 22

Question 23

Three lesson format challenges - what would ‘integrated format’ look like? (5)

A combination of diagrams and written explanations about the life cycle of a frog

Two or more sources of written information relating to a translation of a passage of text

Students reading instructions while learning to operate software including an Excel spreadsheet of mathematical formula

Answer 23

Question 24

What might a worksheet on iambic pentameter look like? (5)

Answer 24

Question 25

Why is strategy 6 ‘Simplify complex information by presenting it both orally and visually’ effective?

Answer 25

Our working memories have two separate ‘channels’ - visual and auditory. By spreading the delivery of information across both of these channels at once, teachers can manage cognitive load and make it easier for students to learn the information. This can be done by communicating information using both images and sound. For example, the teacher could show students a diagram, and explain it orally at the same time.

Question 26

Strategy 6 ‘Simplify complex information by presenting it both orally and visually’ - what simple thing can teachers do to manage students’ cognitive load?

Answer 26

Communicate verbally - remove text and read descriptions aloud instead.

Question 27

Strategy 6 ‘Simplify complex information by presenting it both orally and visually’ - implications for teacher language?

Answer 27

Long, complex sentences place large demands of working memory. Teachers should break down spoken explanations into short, simple statements.

Question 28

Strategy 6 ‘Simplify complex information by presenting it both orally and visually’ - what would this look like when teaching students how to read musical annotation?

Answer 28

Question 29

Strategy seven-encourage students to visualise concepts and procedures that they have learnt.

Why is it effective?

Answer 29

The process of visualising means mentally reproducing a procedure or concept. This mental process helps students to engage with information more deeply, and begin to recall it automatically without much conscious effort.

Question 30

When students are visualising information about movement skills in cricket, what might the teacher ask them to do?

Answer 30

The teacher might ask students to close their eyes, visualise themselves at the pitch, picture how their feet are placed, visualise themselves holding the bat, visualise the grip etc.

Question 31

Visualise the difference between a conventional and integrated diagram

Answer 31