Focus of last week

Schema theory

Cognitive load theory

Presentation of information
Topics

Nez Perce Indians

Wildflowers of the Desert

Constellations

Polynesians
Polynesians

Social Customs

Tools

Social Organization

Food Gathering and Preparation

Clothing

Religious Ceremonies

Housing

Transportation
The Polynesians had a very
advanced culture for their time.
Supporting Information:
 Master navigators
 Master boat builders
 Complex pictorial language
 Extensive domain
 Impressive art
 Creative tool making
 Creative adaptation
Topic versus Concept




Topic
The relationship of water to cultural
activity.
Concept
The presence of water played a
significant role in the extent and type
of human activity.
Limited by number of symbols

Water from Steens Mountain
controlled and continues to control
life on and around the mountain.
Supporting stories

Water from the Steens supplies
Malheur NWR.

Those with water rights controlled.

Drought forced people out.

Flooding forced people out.

Lakes and snowmelt kept pastures
green in the summer for sheep.
Range of topics




Natural history
Cultural history
Past
Present
Get the point!

Water from Steens Mountain
controlled and continues to control
life on and around the mountain.
Possible approaches


Information driven approach –
organization is something artificial,
such as alphabetical or chronological
or by sub-topic.
Message or concept driven approach
– organization of information focuses
on the concept. Facts are pieces of
information to build a picture of the
concept.
Which approach is
better?
Why?
Concept Driven approach

Reduces cognitive load because it
matches the way the brain wants to
process and store information – as a
schema.
Rosetta Stone


Information driven or concept
driven?
Is there a concept that could be used
to organize a different presentation
about the Rosetta Stone?
Basic assumptions



1. Mind has to be actively processing
information to learn.
2. The mind is trying to acquire
(create) schema.
3. The mind has limited processing
capacity.
Additive

So you have to reduce cognitive load
as much as possible to ensure that it
is within a person’s capability to
process.
Cognitive Load

Intrinsic cognitive load

Extrinsic cognitive load

Germane cognitive load
Element interactivity
Do you drive?
Elements with low interactivity
Elements with higher interactivity
Redundancy Effect
Expert Reversal Effect
Solution?



Know your audience!
For novices, redundancy may be
necessary.
For experts, it may be extrinsic
cognitive load.
The use of examples

Typical approach – worked example,
problem, worked example, problem,
etc.
Worked example effect

Eliminate one part of the worked
example each time until students are
working complete problems.
Fading




7-step problem – show worked
example.
Show first 6 steps – student does
last.
Show first 5 steps – student does
last 2.
Etc.
Split attention affect


4th assumption – we process
information along two distinct
pathways.
Visual and verbal
Dual Coding Theory
Paivio
Dual Coding Theory
White rein orchid grows in bogs
Semantic Association


The degree to which the verbal
information overlaps with the visual
information (David, 1998).
In this case, verbal information from
the panel overlapping with visual
information in the surrounding
environment.
High Semantic Association
Low
Semantic
Association
Dual Coding

1. Visual information

2. Verbal information

3. Referential connections
Proximity of visual and verbal
Referential connections
All 3 elements

Dog
Split attention
Undivided attention
3-dimensional versus 2dimensional
Ways to reduce cognitive load







Reduce extrinsic cognitive load
Avoid redundancy unless necessary
Use worked examples
Use visuals if possible
Use perspectives of maps
Avoid split attention
Use dual mode if possible