Cognitive Load Theory

Jan L. Plass is an Associate Professor of Educational Communication and Technology in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University, where he co-directs the NYU Games for Learning Institute. He is also the founding director of the Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education (CREATE). His research is at the intersection of cognitive science, learning sciences, and design and seeks to enhance the educational effectiveness of visual environments. Dr Plass's current focus is on the cognitive and emotional aspects of information design and the interaction design of simulations and educational games for science education and second language acquisition. He has received funding for his research from the US Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and, most recently, from Microsoft Research and the Motorola Foundation. Roxana Moreno is an Educational Psychology Professor at the University of New Mexico. Her research interests are in applying cognitive-affective theories of learning to derive principles of instructional design for a diversity of learners. Her investigations involve undergraduate students as well as K-12 students who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Dr Moreno's most recent projects include an engineering education grant aimed at applying empirically based technology tools to foster problem solving and cognitive flexibility in pre-college students and the 'Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education: Guided Interactive Virtual Environments for Case-Based Learning' grant, for which she received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. Other awards and honors include the American Psychological Association Richard E. Snow Award, being a Fulbright Senior Specialist in the areas of education and instructional media design, and an appointment as a veteran social scientist for the Department of Education. Roland Brünken is Full Professor in Education and Dean for Student Affairs of the Faculty of Empirical Human Sciences at Saarland University, Germany. He is also Speaker of the special interest group Educational Psychology of the German Psychological Association (DGPs). His main research interests are concerned with using new technology for education, direct measurement of cognitive load by behavioral measures, and applying cognitive psychology to the instructional design of multimedia learning environments.

“This handbook provides an extensive account of the history, current state, and future prospects of the influential Cognitive Load Theory framework for the design of multimedia educational experiences. I plan to use this excellent book in my own classes and research. I didn't get overloaded reading this in-depth coverage, so the authors seem to practice what they preach.” – John B. Black, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Introduction Jan L. Plass, Roxana Moreno and Roland Brünken; Part I. Theory: 1. Cognitive load theory: historical development and relation to other theories Roxana Moreno and Babette Park; 2. Cognitive load theory: recent theoretical advances John Sweller; 3. Schema acquisition and sources of cognitive load Slava Kalyuga; 4. Individual differences and cognitive load theory Jan L. Plass and Slava Kalyuga; Part II. Empirical Evidence: 5. Learning from worked-out examples and problem solving Alexander Renkl and Robert K. Atkinson; 6. Instructional control of cognitive load in the design of complex learning environments Liesbeth Kester, Fred Paas and Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer; 7. Techniques that reduce extraneous cognitive load and manage intrinsic cognitive load during multimedia learning Richard E. Mayer and Roxana Moreno; 8. Techniques that increase generative processing in multimedia learning: open questions for cognitive-load research Roxana Moreno and Richard E. Mayer; Part III. Discussion: 9. Measuring cognitive load Roland Brünken, Tina Seufert and Fred Paas; 10. From neo-behaviorism to neuroscience: perspectives on the origins and future contributions of cognitive load research Richard E. Clark and Vincent P. Clark; 11. Cognitive load in learning with multiple representations Holger Horz and Wolfgang Schnotz; 12. Current issues and open questions in cognitive load research Roland Brünken, Jan L. Plass and Roxana Moreno.