Just-in-time, schematic supportive information presentation during cognitive skill acquisition

Abstract

Cognitive load theory states that well-designed learning material minimizes extraneous cognitiveload and optimizes germane cognitive load within the thresholds of available cognitiveresources. In this study, the extraneous cognitive load is minimized by avoiding temporal splitattention with regard to supportive information (i.e., conceptual models or theory) and thegermane cognitive load is optimized by using schematic representations of this informationto direct learners attention to concepts relevant for learning. A 2 · 2 between-groups designwith the factors supportive information (before or during practice) and schematic representation(before or during practice) was used to investigate whether this balance between extraneousand germane load leads to more effective and efficient learning. It was found that the'supportive during, schema before' format indeed yielded a higher learning efficiency thanthe 'supportive before, schema before' and the 'supportive during, schema during' formatbut no differences were found for learning effectiveness (i.e., test performance).