Cognitive Load Theory

Cognitive Load Theory was developed by John Sweller. He published a paper on

the subject in the journal Cognitive Science in 1988.
"Cognitive load" relates to the amount of information that working memory can
hold at one time. Sweller said that, since working memory has a limited capacity,
instructional methods should avoid overloading it with additional activities that
don't directly contribute to learning.

Cognitive Load Theory also shows us that working memory can be extended in
two ways. First, the mind processes visual and auditory information separately.
Auditory items in working memory do not compete with visual items in the same
way that two visual items, for example a picture and some text, compete with
one another.

This is known as the "Modality Effect." So, for example, explanatory information
has less impact on working memory if it is narrated, rather than added to an
already complex diagram.

Second, working memory treats an established schema as a single item, and a

highly practiced "automated" schema barely counts at all. So, learning activities
that draw upon your existing knowledge expand the capacity of your working
memory.

This means that pre-training, or teaching people prerequisite skills before

introducing a more complex topic, will help them establish schemas that extend
their working memory; and this then means that they can understand and learn
more difficult information.

Cognitive Load Theory builds upon the widely accepted model of human
information processing. It describes the process as having three main parts:
sensory memory, working memory and long-term memory. Since then, many
researchers have added to our understanding of this concept, but the basic
model remains the same.
Sensory memory filters out most of this information, but keeps an impression of
the most important items long enough for them to pass into working memory.

For example, when you return a volley while playing tennis, your sensory
memory discards information about players on adjacent courts, the sound of
children playing nearby, the smell of coffee from the park's café... and it focuses
only on the approaching ball.
Information from your sensory memory passes into your working memory, where
it is either processed or discarded. Working memory can generally hold between
five and nine items (or chunks) of information at any one time.

When your brain processes information, it categorizes that information and

moves it into long-term memory, where it is stored in knowledge structures called
"schemas." These organize information according to how you use it. So, for
example, you have schemas for different concepts such as dog, cat, mammal,
and animal.

You also have behavioral schemas for actions like hitting a ball, riding a bicycle,
ordering food at a restaurant and so on. The more practiced you become at using
these schemas, the more effortless these behaviors become. This is called
"automation." Schemas are also significant to Cognitive Load Theory.

Constructivists Theory (Bruner)

Constructivism is a learning theory found in psychology which explains how

people might acquire knowledge and learn. It therefore has direct application to
education. The theory suggests that humans construct knowledge and meaning
from their experiences. Constructivism is not a specific pedagogy. Piaget's theory
of Constructivist learning has had wide ranging impact on learning theories and
teaching methods in education and is an underlying theme of many education
reform movements. Research support for constructivist teaching techniques has
been mixed, with some research supporting these techniques and other research
contradicting those results.

A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active

process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their
current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information,
constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to
do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and
organization to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the
information given”.

As far as instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage

students to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should
engage in an active dialog (i.e., socratic learning). The task of the instructor is to
translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner’s
current state of understanding. Curriculum should be organized in a spiral
manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already
learned.

Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction should address four major
aspects: (1) predisposition towards learning, (2) the ways in which a body of
knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the
learner, (3) the most effective sequences in which to present material, and (4) the
nature and pacing of rewards and punishments. Good methods for structuring
knowledge should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, and
increasing the manipulation of information.

In his more recent work, Bruner (1986, 1990, 1996) has expanded his theoretical
framework to encompass the social and cultural aspects of learning as well as
the practice of law.

Bruner’s constructivist theory is a general framework for instruction based upon

the study of cognition. Much of the theory is linked to child development research
(especially Piaget ). The ideas outlined in Bruner (1960) originated from a
conference focused on science and math learning. Bruner illustrated his theory
in the context of mathematics and social science programs for young children
(see Bruner, 1973). The original development of the framework for reasoning
processes is described in Bruner, Goodnow & Austin (1951). Bruner (1983)
focuses on language learning in young children.
Note that Constructivism is a very broad conceptual framework in philosophy
and science and Bruner’s theory represents one particular perspective.