Tag Archives: clt

Reading: Field dependence–independence and instructional-design effects on learners’ performance with a computer-modeling tool

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Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 25, Issue 6, November 2009, Pages 1355–1366
Authors: Charoula Angeli, Nicos Valanides, Paul Kirschner

Main point:

Experiment (n=101 teachers). Two groups: information presented in split-format and in integrated-format. Authors found interaction between type of instructional materials and FD/I in terms of students’ problem-solving performance, while the interaction effects between type of instructional materials and students’ FD/I in terms of students’ cognitive load and time spent on task were not. It means that the cognitive load and split-attention effect are equal to everybody, regardless to the FD/I

My thoughts: It seems to be OK to measure cognitive load with self reports since there is no better tool so far. Field independent learners always do better. How about the attention? It may be that although FI and FD use the same time for completing a task, the quality of the time is not the same. FD’s attention may be disturbed.

Reading: Attending to the Execution of a Complex Sensorimotor Skill: Expertise Differences, Choking, and Slumps

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Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 2004, Vol. 10, No. 1, 42–54
Author: Rob Gray

Main point:

Experiments with baseball batters (10 expert players, 10 novice players). Exp 1. Three conditions: dual-task when attention was drawn to an extraneous stimuli (sound signal) while player was hitting the ball, dual-task condition when attention was drawn to the hitting process, and single-task condition, when the sound signal could be ignored. Results: in the first condition, novices showed decrease in performance, but not the experts. In the second condition, it was vice-versa. In the single-task condition the experts outperformed the novices, of course.

The author says: “Clearly, unlike more experienced players, novices do not seem to have sufficient available attentional resources to simultaneously hit and attend to extraneous sensory information.”

Reading: A Coherence Effect in Multimedia Learning: The Case for Minimizing Irrelevant Sounds in the Design of Multimedia Instructional Messages

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Journal of Educational Psychology 2000, Vol. 92, No. 1, 117-125
Authors: Roxana Moreno, Richard E. Mayer

Main point:

2 experiments (n=75, collage students) showed that groups learning with background music performed worse than with no music. Adding “bells and whistles” to a multimedia study material does not improve learning.

 

Effects of the Environment When Starting to Play a Musical Instrument Instructed by a Multimedia Study Material

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Studying a musical instrument with the help of a multimedia study material is different from studying any theoretical discipline because there is an extra source of information: the additional visual and audio information that the learner creates by playing the instrument.

As the learner’s cognitive resources are limited (CLT), there is a higer risk of cognitive overload. But before starting to optimize the study material we should see what else can use learner’s cognitive resources.

250+ beginners studied guitar with the help of the www.guitarschool.ee multimedia course and recorded 4 test exercises. The study process took place in a natural environment (75% home, 20% office, 5% elsewhere) and was not controlled (most common case when studying a musical instrument). The study material was the same for everyone so it is possible to measure the effect of the study environment on study results. If the effect is significant then it is important to reduce it in order to improve study results. Otherwise whatever improvements we make to the study material to use of the learner’s cognitive recourses more efficiently, the overall effect may be not big enough.

It is not possible to change the actual environment, we only can change the study material. There are two ways to neutralize the effect of the study environment by the study material:

a) reducing the cognitive load caused by the study material. This means putting through less information and causing the study process to slow down.
b) reducing the effect of an environment by demanding more engagement from the learner (gamification, more interaction)

I will need 3 bits of information:

1) Facts about the environment (What was it like? from questionnaire)
2) Cognitive effects of the environment (How did it feel? from questionnaire)
3) Study results (recordings, achieved level of total 8 levels of the course)

The first set of questions asks the respondents to describe the actual characteristics of an environment, the second set wants to know how did it feel. For example, if there were potentially annoying factors in the room but the learner didn’t notice them, then we cannot consider them as extraneous load (CLT).