Integrating cognitive load theory with other theories, within and beyond educational psychology

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The long-standing aim of cognitive load theory (CLT) has been to generate instructional design principles that show teachers how to instruct students effectively, based on knowledge of the intricacies of human cognitive architecture. Historically, the focus of CLT has been on identifying cognitive processes related to learning and instruction. However, the theory has become more multidisciplinary over time, drawing on theoretical perspectives both within, and beyond, educational psychology.

RESULTS

This Editorial presents a brief historical overview of key developments in CLT and seven key themes that are pertinent to research on CLT. These themes are as follows: Level of Expertise, Cognitive Load Measurement, Embodied Cognition, Self-Regulated Learning, Emotion Induction, Replenishment of Working Memory, and Two Subprocessors of Working Memory. Summaries of the nine empirical contributions to the special issue are presented and discussed in relation to how they provide insight into one or more of these themes.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the variables that impact student learning and instruction has always represented the core aim of CLT. The growing multidisciplinary features of CLT should provide researchers and practitioners with more holistic perspectives of the factors that predict student learning and, in turn, guide instructional design.

The relationship between different types of co-speech gestures and L2 speech performance

Co-speech gestures are closely connected to speech, but little attention has been paid to the associations between gesture and L2 speech performance. This study explored the associations between four types of co-speech gestures (namely, iconics, metaphorics, deictics, and beats) and the meaning, form, and discourse dimensions of L2 speech performance. Gesture and speech data were collected by asking 61 lower-intermediate English learners whose first language is Chinese to retell a cartoon clip. Results showed that all the four types of co-speech gestures had positive associations with meaning and discourse L2 speech measures but no association with form-related speech measures, except the positive association between metaphorics and the percentage of error-free clauses. The findings suggest that co-speech gestures may have a tighter connection with meaning construction in producing L2 speech.

Augmenting the effect of virtual labs with "teacher demonstration" and "student critique" instructional designs to scaffold the development of scientific literacy

Virtual labs provide space for students to iteratively test, observe, and revise their understanding so as to improve their scientific literacy. However, one of the challenges that students face is that they need to think and act like scientists so as to be sensitively alert to methodological flaws and various sources of error. This study thus compared the effect of two instructional approaches using a virtual lab to enhance students' scientific literacy. Before students were given the opportunity to conduct science inquiries with the virtual lab, they were required to critique problematic inquiry cases (the critique group) or watch teachers' demonstrations (the teacher demonstration group) before taking part in the inquiry. By analyzing data from 50 middle school students, this study found that the effect of applying virtual labs can be augmented by an instructional design that engages students in critiquing experiments prior to their inquiry with the virtual lab. This study also found a limitation of the use of virtual labs in helping students transfer what they have learned from the teacher's demonstration to new inquiry contexts. A close relation among scientific literacy post-test scores, critiquing performance, and inquiry performance in the inquiry activity was detected, suggesting that student critiquing prior to inquiry is in alignment with the goal of developing students' inquiry skills and scientific literacy with virtual labs.

Does Touching Real Objects Affect Learning?

Based on theories of multimedia learning, the present study investigated whether the haptic sense serves as an additional channel to enhance the learning experience and learning outcomes. We therefore set up an experimental exhibition with two showrooms. In the first showroom, the sensory access of the participants to the exhibition objects was systematically varied in a 2 × 2 design with the between-subjects factors vision and haptics. While one group of participants could touch and see the objects, others could either only see or only touch them. The fourth group of participants found a showroom without objects. To address the auditory access, all participants were provided with information about each object via an audio guide. In the second showroom, further information was presented using posters. This showroom was the same for every participant. We aimed to investigate whether the haptic experience in the first showroom served as a motivator to engage further with the topic. The participants filled out questionnaires before visiting the first showroom, after visiting the first showroom, and after visiting the second showroom. To investigate the differences between the experimental groups on different outcomes, a memory test, a knowledge test, and various motivational-affective scales were used. The long-term effects of the information presentation were measured after 3 weeks. We found an advantage for recalling the objects and a heightened negative affect due to the haptic experience. Implications and further directions for this research will be discussed.

Embodied learning: introducing a taxonomy based on bodily engagement and task integration

Research on learning and education is increasingly influenced by theories of embodied cognition. Several embodiment-based interventions have been empirically investigated, including gesturing, interactive digital media, and bodily activity in general. This review aims to present the most important theoretical foundations of embodied cognition and their application to educational research. Furthermore, we critically review recent research concerning the effectiveness of embodiment interventions and develop a taxonomy to more properly characterize research on embodied cognition. The main dimensions of this taxonomy are bodily engagement (i.e. how much bodily activity is involved) and task integration (i.e. whether bodily activities are related to a learning task in a meaningful way or not). By locating studies on the 2 × 2 grid resulting from this taxonomy and assessing the corresponding learning outcomes, we identify opportunities, problems, and challenges of research on embodied learning.