Learning and Teaching-Cognitive Load Theory: Part 2. Minimizing Extrinsic Load by Honing the Presentation.

In Part 1 on Cognitive Load Theory (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2023/02/learning-and-teaching-cognitive-load.html), the framework of WHAT Cognitive Load Theory is was laid out in principle, following  Oliver Lovell’s book on the subject (Lovell 2020).

Part 3 is on how teachers can minimize the extrinsic load on the learner through structuring their practices and lessons. (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2023/05/learning-and-teaching-cognitive-load.html) 

Part 4 is on how teachers can optimize intrinsic loads on the student. (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2023/08/learning-and-teaching-cognitive-load.html)

This article follows the book in examining how the teacher or  coach can apply  cognitive load theory to minimize the extrinsic loading on the working memory by honing their presentation. What follows is my interpretation of what was laid out in Lovell’s book, any misrepresentation is entirely my fault.

The definitions of intrinsic and extrinsic loads are reiterated below.

The extrinsic cognitive loads are:

·       A part of  the manner and structure of how the information is conveyed to the learners.

·       Disruptive to the learning task because it distracts the learner from learning by occupying valuable working memory space.

Whereas the intrinsic cognitive loads are those that are critical to learning whatever it is that we need to learn. They are:

·       Part of the nature of the information that we are learning.

·       Core learning.

·       Information that we WANT the learner to have in their working memory.

The critical limitation is that the working memory has a finite capacity; that is, the intrinsic and the extrinsic loads are vying for the same finite resource. One emphasis should be  placed on minimizing the extrinsic load; that is, to offload unnecessary extrinsic cognitive load, to make space in the working memory before optimizing the intrinsic loads.

Note that even though Lovell’s book is relatively short, he presents quite a bit of results, and information, and examples from many different subjects, so it is worthwhile to read through the book.

Since I come from two different but related points of view: teaching at a university level and coaching, I will apply the rules for honing the presentation within both contexts whenever they are applicable.

Minimize Extraneous Load

My experience in both teaching and coaching showed me that de-cluttering the learning experience and eliminating the non-essential components is critical to helping my students/players learn. The actions of the teacher/coach in teaching/coaching often distract the student/player, which dilutes their attention. Minimizing the extrinsic load on the student/player is a large job for the teacher/coach. It was a hard lesson to learn.

Lovell split the task of minimizing the extraneous load into two parts: Honing the presentation and structuring the practice. This part is about honing the presentation.

Honing the Presentation

How the information is presented is critical as they need to focus all of their working memory on the learning task rather than any unintended extrinsic loads added by the presentation modes of the teacher/coaches which distracts the learning experience.

Here are the key points presented in Lovell’s book.

·       Redundancy Effect: Eliminate unnecessary information and avoid replicating necessary information.

Most teachers/coaches feel that anything they present is critical to learning; that is, they don’t recognize that the way they present the information can be redundant. An example from the author is: When information is presented simultaneously in written and spoken forms, both forms of presentation are competing for the same working memory resources, which results in interference with each other.

o   In the case of coaching, it isn’t the mixed medium for presentation which is redundant, it is that coaches often get into the habit of repeating themselves because coaches think that they need to fill in the silence with chatter to make sure that the players get the point.  In my experience, the incessant repetition of information and instruction has just the opposite effect: it pulls the player’s attention away from processing the information to actively thinking about the things that the coach is saying.

o   The definition given in the book does apply in the classroom teaching context. We tend to present written information and we also have a tendency to read that information to the students. This goes back to the cardinal rule of making presentations: do not read the slides verbatim during a presentation.

·       Bullet-Proof definitions: Clearly and simply define each concept introduced. The book recommends a “bullet proof definition”, which is a one sentence summary of the key concept. Detailed definitions and long well-thought-out explanations, while complete, will overload the student’s working memory because they are overcome with the amount of  information being presented and will try to process the all the detailed information in real time, an impossible proposition. It is critical to keep it simple but to the point, at least while introducing new concepts.

o   In the coaching context, the coach needs to avoid giving all the instructions at once. Coaches will sometimes give the players instructions for the complete skill or tactics rather than feeding the instructions to the players in pieces.  While presenting whole and complete pictures are important, they are more important to the experienced players who are refining their  understanding of the skills after having achieved a level of competency. The nuances and holistic understanding come later in the player’s skill evolution, not while they are first exposed to the task.

o   The idea is identical in the teaching context, the teacher needs to learn to construct a basic scaffolding for the student, who needs to establish their fundamental understanding. Each piece of bullet-proof definition serves to serve as the foundation for their future development. These bullet-proof definitions  also need to be placed in relation to the other bullet-proof definitions to show students the linkages between the parts to facilitate the synthesis of the coherent structure. This is especially critical in teaching the student the problem-solving process, because it is never obvious how one problem-solving step leads to the next step.

·       Expertise Level Reverse Effect: What may appear to be vital to the expert is not vital to the neophyte.

Successful learning must be based on the level of the learner.  Details matter to the learning process of the expert, they don’t matter to the neophyte, yet.

Guadagnoli and Lee’s  explains in their paper (Guadagnoli 2004) that those learners who  are learning new skills and concept without any previous experience are more likely to be lost and confused while learning the basics because their long-term memory is do not contain any tangible memory to retrieve and extend into new knowledge.  The presentation must be honed to meet the level of the student and not that of the teacher.

In both the coaching and teaching context, it is incumbent on the teacher/coach to understand that they need to anticipate the difficult concepts which may confuse a beginner and steer them through the complexities. It is better to underestimate the amount of knowledge that the beginner may have rather than to over-estimate.

·       Split Attention: “Information should be placed together in space and time, if and only IF the information cannot be understood in isolation and is essential rather than redundant.” In other words, when presenting complex information to students, the information needs to be  presented together if presenting them separately would lead to confusion. This is more applicable in the classroom teaching context.

Rather than presenting complex information separated by space and time, putting them close together in space and time is more effective in helping the student to learn.

o   Split Attention in Space: This is more applicable in the classroom context. The recommended practice is to put all the information in close proximity to one another so that the student’s visual field contains all the necessary information so that the complete set of  information can be seen and absorbed together. The key is to keep the information within the visual field of the student so that they don’t have to search for pertinent information, while also making sure that the information presented together is not redundant.

o   Split Attention in Time: Refers to the timing of the information presentation. Rather than presenting in a manner which makes logical sense to the presenter; for example, presenting in an orderly bullet list form first and then going returning to the list after the initial presentation to define each item, it is better to present each term and follow up with the definition immediately. Oftentimes, orderly presentation writing practices can cause the student’s working memory to be overloaded.

·       Transient Information Effect: When information disappears, and students must hold it in working memory, this will also cause extraneous cognitive load. This effect occurs almost exclusively in a classroom setting when the teacher improvises and passes on information verbally without presenting that information in a tangible way. This is where improvisation needs to be regulated and digressions avoided unless the students have significant experience and background to process the digressions in parallel.

In the coaching context, the coach should suppress the urge to extemporaneously progress beyond the specific instruction on the fly.

·       Modality Effect: Modality effect is defined as presenting information via the auditory and visual channels in tandem via to eliminate visual split attention and expand working memory capacity. The idea is that the visual and auditory channels work separately, so that both channels can be deployed together to make more effective learning. The auditory and visual channels can be used to enhance the student’s learning process; they are greater than the sum of their parts.

The deployment of the modality effect may seem to be contradictory to the redundancy effect, it is a nuanced difference between being redundant and advantageous. They are only contradictory if the teacher/coach falls into two distinct redundancy traps.

1.     Simultaneous presentation of written and spoken words. They both involve the use of the language processing center of the brain, which overloads the working memory.

2.     Simultaneous presentation of redundant information.

To successfully deploy the dual modality presentation the information presented with the auditory and visual channels are essentially complementary, i.e. if they can be understood separately, then they need to be presented separately.

An example of dual modality presentation in coaching is the time-honored tradition of skills or tactics demo as the coach explains what the coach wants the player to see. The players should be absorbing the visual demo while also getting essential reminders of what they are seeing. The information from the visual and the auditory  channels should complement one another rather than contradict or repeat one another.

·       Keep the number of independent subjects limited. This does not come from Lovell, this comes from Doug Lemov’s The Coaches Guide to Coaching (Lemov 2020).

o   Anecdotally, the working memory can handle up to seven separate pieces of information at a time. Lemov recommends, especially with beginners, no more than three instructions. It is better to have free space in the working memory so that the student/player can apply more working memory resources to those three  instructions.

Note that while these points are seemingly basic, it is difficult to execute because they are often contradictory to what the teacher/coach are accustomed to in practice. I have come to practice understated presentation or explanation to avoid overloading the student/player’s working memory. But just to be sure, I also check for understanding more often and change presentation modes rapidly at the first sign of confusion.

Summary

·       Redundant information is the main reason for an unnecessarily overloaded working memory.

·       Redundancy comes in many forms

o   Presenting the same information using the same means at the same time, e.g. using the written word and oral instructions at the same time because both involve the language processing part of the brain.

o   Presenting too many pieces of information together.

·       Keep it simple. Have bullet-proof definitions for the student/player to hang on to. Something that is simple and to the point.

o   Keep the experience and skill level of the student/player in mind when formulating the definitions. It is easier to initially underestimate their experience and skill level and ratchet up your expectations as they show more aptitude and higher experience and skill levels.

·       To avoid splitting the student/player’s attention,

o   Combine information in the presentation Only If the information is so closely related that it would cause more confusion if they were presented separately.

o   Define the information at the same time as when you present the topic, not returning to the list after the list is presented for the first time .

·       Use the language processing and visual processing channels together.

o   Visual processing meaning picture and videos.

o   Reading slides uses language processing part of the brain, same as listening.

·       Present up to three main points at a time and no more. Avoid improvisations and digressions.

The Rest of the Story

Cognitive Load Theory- Part 3: Reducing Extrinsic Load by Structuring Practice

Cognitive Load Theory-Part 4: Optimizing Intrinsic Load

Works Cited

Guadagnoli, Mark and Timothy D. Lee. "Challenge Point: a Framework for Conceptualizing the Effects of Various Practice Conditions in Motor Learning." Journal of Motor Behavior, June 2004: 212-224.

Lemov, Doug. The Coaches Guide to Teaching. Clearwater, FL: John Catt Educational Ltd., 2020.

Lovell, Oliver. Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory in Action. Melton: John Catt Educational Ltd, 2020.