I have written a number of Newsletter articles this year about the Catalyst initiative being undertaken by all teaching staff in the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese. One important element of this training is cognitive load theory. Cognitive load theory was recently described by British educationalist Dylan Wiliam as ‘the single most important thing for teachers to know’ (Wiliam 2017). Simply put, cognitive load theory supports two ideas: 1) that the human brain can only process small amounts of new information at any given time and 2) that the brain can process very large amounts of stored information. An example of this would be to remember a mobile phone number given to us for the first time. If recited to us once, even twice, we might struggle to recall all the numbers in the correct order without writing the number down or saying it over and over. However, we can recall all the lyrics to a song we might not have heard in 10 years.

Memory is part of cognitive load theory. Working memory is where information is initially processed and this memory can only hold small pieces of information for a short period of time – the phone number. Long-term memory where large amounts of information is stored – our catalogue of music memory from which we can recall thousands of melodies and lyrics.

Every day our students are using their working memory to learn new content and concepts. If working memory is overloaded, it is highly likely that the student will not be able to absorb the new information which then prevents them from learning and therefore memorising what they have just been taught.

Transferring knowledge and information into long-term memory is essential as this reduces the burden on working memory. When the brain can automatically recall information, there is minimal conscious effort on the brain, freeing it up to focus on the new task at hand. Therefore, the goal is to reduce cognitive load in order to assist students in transferring working memory to long-term memory which in turn allows for an increase in knowledge gained.

Effective teaching techniques are essential in reducing cognitive load and supporting students in their acquisition of new knowledge. One technique common at Carroll College is the ‘worked example’ strategy. An article from the NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation states, “Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need to understand (2017) describes the ‘worked example effect’:

A ‘worked example’ is a problem that has already been solved for the learner, with every step fully explained and clearly shown. The ‘worked example effect’ is the widely replicated finding that novice learners who are given worked examples to study perform better on subsequent tests than learners who are required to solve the equivalent problems themselves (Carroll 1994; Cooper & Sweller 1987; Sweller & Cooper 1985). The reason for this, according to cognitive load theory, is that unguided problem-solving places a heavy burden on working memory, inhibiting the ability of the learner to transfer the information into their long-term memory. The learner may effectively solve the problem, but because their working memory was overloaded they may not recognise and remember the rule that would allow them to quickly solve the same problem again in the future.

This is not the only strategy to help reduce cognitive load. Teachers can make use of a range of strategies that demonstrate best practice. Understanding cognitive load theory is part of a teacher’s toolkit and something that your child’s teacher will be making use of to increase their opportunities to transfer their learning into long-term memory.

Teaching strategies from cognitive load theory

Erica Drewsen
Assistant Principal, Learning and Innovation