•John Sweller (1988) proposed the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) based on Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

•Working Memory (WM) is limited (Miller, 1956)

•Long term Memory (LTM) is limitless - stores information - well organised structures called cognitive schemata (CS) (Van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2010)

•Intrinsic  and extrinsic cognitive loads (ICL & ECL) -  additive effect - if they exceed WM - learning is impaired (Carlson, 2003)

•Germane cognitive load (GCL) - facilitates learning by aiding the formation of CS in LTM (Van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2005)

 

Objective

 

Methodology

Prospective Observational Study

Ontology: Critical-realist | Epistemology: Subjective

Philosophical Stance: Post-positivist

Ethical Clearance: Newcastle School of Medical Education as a part of Practitioner Inquiry for PG Dip in MedEd – c0079449

Consent: Free consent to participate/ not participate/ withdraw

Students: 3rd and 5th year students - Obstetrics & Gynaecology hospital placement in 2021-2022

Instrument for CL measurement – Klepsch’s Instrument –  Measures ICL , ECL, GCL on a scale of 1 (min) to 7(max)

Perception was specifically sought for integration of basic sciences to clinical curricular learning.

Responses were analysed in different teaching sessions

 

Results

     Overall Cognitive Load (CL)

     CL in 3rd vs. 5th year Students

     CL in students with Previous Bio-medical degree

 

Discussion

‘Direct Initial Principle’ – inter-relating elements separated over time and distance  - prevents split-attention effect  (Ayres, 1990; Mayer, 2010)

GCL - mental resources dedicated to acquiring CS (Sweller, 1998) which Ayres (2006) describes as essential to promote learning

Integration of basic sciences reduces ICL and ECL and frees WM to allow optimum increase in GCL to allow formation of CS in LTM

 

References

- Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (1990) Locus of difficulty in multistage mathematics problems. The American Journal of Psychology 103(2) 167–193.

- Ayres P. (2006). Using subjective measures to detect variations of intrinsic cognitive load within problems. Learn. Instr. 16, 389–400.

- Carlson R, Chandler P, Sweller J. (2003). Learning and understanding science instructional material. J Educ Psychol 95 629–640.

- Mayer RE. (2010). Applying the science of learning to medical education. Med Educ 44 543–549.

- Miller GA. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychol Rev 63 81–97.

- Sweller J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning.Cogn Sci 12 257–285.

- Sweller J., van Merrienboer J. J. G., Paas F. G. W. C. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educ. Psychol. Rev 10 251–296.

- Van Merrie¨nboer JJG, Sweller J. (2005). Cognitive load theory and complex learning: Recent developments and future directions. Educ Psychol Rev 17 147–177.

- Van Merrienboer JJG, Sweller J. (2010). Cognitive load theory in health professional education: Design principles and strategies. Med Educ 44 85–93.