Rapid Assessment of Learners’ Proficiency: A cognitive load approach

To tailor instruction to levels of learner proficiency in a domain in adaptive learning environments, rapid on‐line methods of assessing learner knowledge and skills are required. Cognitive studies indicate that major factors in expert performance are organised structures in the person’s knowledge base. Measuring different levels of acquisition of such knowledge structures should be a major purpose of cognitive diagnostic assessment. Traditional tests may not provide reliable evidence for diagnostic purposes and are not suitable for dynamic learning environments. This paper discusses an alternative diagnostic approach based on monitoring immediate traces of students’ knowledge structures in working memory. Results of an experimental study applying this method to assessment of user reading skills are described. The study demonstrated a sufficiently high level of correlation (.66) between obtained measures and traditional test scores, and a substantial increase in reliability, with testing time reduced by a factor of 3.8.     

Translating words into equations: a cognitive load theory approach

The conditions under which explicit instruction in checking, combined with worked examples, may be beneficial in learning how to translate sentences into algebraic equations was examined from the perspective of cognitive load theory. In two experiments it was shown that Grade 8 and 9 students were initially disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. However, after a more substantial period of acquisition, students with a low level of mathematical knowledge performed significantly better after receiving checking instructions than those who did not receive checking instructions. In contrast, higher knowledge students were continually disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. The positive effect of checking for lower knowledge students and the negative effect for higher knowledge students in this domain is a further example of the expertise reversal effect.     

隐喻的认知观

隐喻是人类一切语言的普遍现象。认知语言学认为隐喻不仅是文学创作中的修辞现象,更是一种思维认知方式,在人类思维的过程中起着重要作用。从认知语言学的角度来分菥和探讨语言中的隐喻现象,旨在探究隐喻研究由修辞到认知的历史发展走向,隐喻认知本质及其产生的认知心理基础,隐喻的认知功能以及隐喻是如何生成和理解的。     

Using subjective measures to detect variations of intrinsic cognitive load within problems

Cognitive load theorists have frequently used subjective measures of cognitive load to test the effectiveness of instructional procedures. This study sought to broaden the applications of subjective measures by testing their ability to detect variations in intrinsic cognitive load within tasks. In two experiments students were asked to complete algebraic problems and provide a subjective measure of cognitive load for each computation completed. By keeping extraneous and germane cognitive load constant, it was argued that changes in intrinsic cognitive load (element interactivity) were measured. Results showed that subjective measures were highly reliable, varied significantly within problems and correlated highly with errors. Evidence was also found that the subjective measures were influenced by the expertise of the learner and procedural errors.     

Knowledge elaboration: A cognitive load perspective

The process of knowledge elaboration is considered from the perspective of cognitive load theory. This theory assumes that the available knowledge structures in long-term memory (LTM) are used to organize and guide cognitive processing in complex learning. Accordingly, the role of external instructional guidance in the process of knowledge elaboration could be described as providing a substitute for knowledge structures missing from LTM. Thus, the executive guidance in complex learning environments is shared between the person (based on his/her LTM knowledge structures) and another expert or instructional means. This article analyzes instructional implications of this assumption. Adaptive learning environments are suggested for tailoring knowledge elaboration processes to changing characteristics of individual learners. Means for identifying and predicting the learner's LTM-based executive guidance are proposed so that they can be utilized in the building of adaptive learning environments.     

Instructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks

Limited processing capacity constrains learning and performance in complex cognitive tasks. In traditional instruction, novices' failure to adequately learn cognitive tasks can often be attributed to the inappropriate direction of attention and the related high or excessive load that is imposed on a learner's cognitive system. An instructional design model for the training of complex cognitive tasks should provide instructional strategies that control cognitive load. We propose such a model and recommend research in which the cognitive load of instructional manipulations is systematically investigated and determined with mental-effort based measures.     

Learning subject content through a foreign language should not ignore human cognitive architecture: A cognitive load theory approach

Several widely implemented educational approaches aim to provide academic content in a foreign language. While Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) works because it focuses both on content and on foreign language learning, approaches aiming at transmitting academic content through a foreign language should not be implemented without explicit foreign language instructional support. Based on cognitive load theory, there are theoretical reasons to hypothesize that exposure to new content in a foreign language without any foreign language instructional support may interfere with rather than facilitate learning compared to learning language and content separately. In three experiments conducted in higher education, a text was presented to 294 students in three different conditions: native language, foreign language, and foreign language with a translation into the native language. We varied the foreign language (English, German) and the domain (Law, Computer Science). Our results indicated that reading in the foreign language was never the best condition to learn either language or academic content. We concluded that considerable care should be taken when transmitting academic content in a foreign language, without explicit foreign language instructional support.     

A cognitive approach to threshold concepts

This paper asks a fundamental question: what is happening inside the mind of the undergraduate during teaching and learning experiences, and how should curricula be designed to support it? A number of concepts lend themselves to providing an answer, principle among which is the relatively recent idea of Threshold Concepts. In this paper we attempt to critically evaluate both the ‘product’ and ‘process’ of Threshold Concepts and subject the idea to a stress test by comparing it to the longer established Schema Theory of Learning. This mapping enabled a novel empirical study involving undergraduate civil engineering students to be performed. The methods derived from Schema Theories of learning provide a set of findings that compliment and strengthen certain key areas of Threshold Concepts, as well as leading to the development of some interesting principles of curriculum design.     

人际语用学研究的社会认知路径

从传统范式到现阶段范式,不同礼貌研究路径在两大争论焦点上持有不同立场:其一,礼貌研究的视角;其二,礼貌现象的解释层面。作为前沿研究成果之一,Long(2016)面向关系工作提出的社会认知路径尝试解决上述争论。该路径侧重交际中人际关系的探讨,对于礼貌研究两大争议的解决具有借鉴意义,但受自身研究背景的局限,未能对人际交往与社会认知过程提出完整的解释。因此,更为完善的人际交往社会认知路径还有待进一步探讨。     

The cognitive approach to training development: A practitioner's assessment

This article begins this special issue of ETR&D-Development by discussing what the cognitive approach to instructional design (ID) is and how ID practitioners can design training differently using the approach. Following some introductory comments about purpose, scope and perspective, the article is in two parts. The first part describes why the cognitive approach to ID is important and how the current approach to instructional design and training development is different from the cognitive approach. It then explains how learning occurs according to the cognitive point of view, and the different categories of learning according to one type of cognitive psychology. The second part describes a model that synthesizes and summarizes the components of a well-designed lesson, and describes what is different about this model from the current approach to ID. This model relates what learners have to do to learn to what instructional designers have to do to help them do so. It presents and briefly explains and exemplifies a general framework for instructional design based on cognitive psychology. Finally, it presents a table that can be used as a job aid to design training.     

对间接言语行为的认知阐释

在认知语言学的框架内,利用理念化的认知模式(ICM)和事件域认知模式(ECM)对间接言语行为进行认知阐释,弥补了间接言语行为语用阐释的不足和缺憾。ICM和ECM运用知觉采集筛选的与角度、需要、目的等相一致的某一部分信息或要素信息代替整体事件域的工作原理,可以更好地突显信息的选择、处理和理解过程中的认知相关性,保障ICM和ECM对间接言语行为理论解释的有效性和可行性。     

Research on cognitive load theory: Application to e-learning

The purpose of this article is to review and critique each of the research studies published in this special issue. We will critique each article, derive one or more instructional design heuristics based on the findings for each study, and provide recommendations for extending particular lines of research. Three suggestions are provided concerning cognitive load theory and instructional design adaptations for e-learning.     

Solving word problems: A case of modelling?

According to the researchers who report in this set of papers there are two causes for the phenomenon that primary- and secondary-school students ignore relevant and plausibly familiar aspects of reality in answering word problems. The first cause is the stereotyped character of common word problems. The second cause lies in the classroom climate. In this article, it is argued that the students act sensibly in their situation. Furthermore, it is noted that the use of stereotyped problems and the accompanying classroom climate relate to teacher beliefs about the goals of mathematics education. Therefore, improving the results on problematic word problems will ask for a change in teacher beliefs. Furthermore, a directed effort to change the classroom socio-math norms will be needed. In relation to this, Greer's suggestion for a change towards a modelling perspective is supported. However, what modelling is, is worked out differently. In line with the RME instructional theory, a plea is made for modelling as an activity of organizing, not of translation.     

影响科学认识的因素研究

社会需求是促进科学认识发展的首要因素，社会历史文化及宗教对科学认识具有促进和制约双重作用。人类认识能力是科学认识的基础，科学自身发展水平和科学认识手段限制着科学认识，学科分化对科学认识具有制约作用，非意识后果对科学认识提出了新的挑战。弄清楚这些问题能为人类解决科学发展中面临的困境寻求一条出路。     

A cognitive/experiential approach to aural rehabilitation

This paper describes an experiential speechreading course that was designed to provide hearing-impaired students with real-life communication experiences. The course, intended to function as a supplement to traditional speechreading courses, was evaluated with a self-evaluation questionnaire completed by students who took the course and by a matched control group. Results indicate that the course was effective in increasing student self-perceptions of communication success in real-life situations.     

Informatics system comprehension: A learner-centred cognitive approach to networked thinking

The author presents results of research on informatics education with emphasis on informatics system comprehension for twenty-first century local, national and global needs. Learners have to create a sustainable cognitive model of a computer to demystify such an informatics system. This can be achieved by fostering system comprehension. The underlying hypothesis of this article is that knowing networked fundamental ideas of informatics and their combination in a system helps learners to develop a cognitive approach to informatics systems. In particular it focuses on the development of networked thinking as a cognitive precondition for mental models of systems. The work contributes to the discussion on what kind of comprehension is required and how far system comprehension can be supported. Assuming there are two pillars of the subject of informatics, i.e., informatics modelling and comprehension of informatics systems, object-oriented design patterns join both together. Knowing about multifaceted interdependencies between the components of a system and the cognitive analysis of such a system is of great value in overcoming the tendency to search for a single cause of an effect. With this in mind, the author offers a theoretical basis as to why design patterns are an essential component of informatics as a subject at secondary level. New media require a new cognitive approach. With regard to the didactic system developed by Brinda and Schubert, exploration modules are an appropriate way to support teaching and learning of design patterns in practice. This article describes a current project developing an exploration module to introduce design patterns with an emphasis on system comprehension to learners at upper secondary level.     

A holistic empathic design through cognitive load theory: response to Tracey and Hutchinson

Educational technology research and development - This article reflects upon the work by Tracey and Hutchinson, Empathic design: Imagining the cognitive and emotional learner experience....     

Pictorial representations of simple arithmetic problems are not always helpful: a cognitive load perspective

This study examined immigrant parents’ involvement in early years mathematics learning, focusing on learning of multiplication in in- and out-of-school settings. Ethnographic interviews and workshops were conducted in an urban city in Japan, to examine out-of-school practices of immigrant families. Drawing from sociocultural theory of learning and the concept of appropriation (Wertsch, 1998), the role of power and identity was examined in relation to children’s appropriation of an informal multiplication method that was taught by their parents. An intergenerational analysis, between immigrant parents and their children, revealed heterogeneous perspectives towards appropriation. Immigrant parents in this study framed their involvement in their children’s early years mathematics learning in relation to their positional identities and the pressures to conform to the mainstream practices of their host country. During their early years of schooling, students in this study were already aware of academic tracking in the school and were aware of what was believed to be legitimate in school mathematics learning. The significance of diversifying mathematics curriculum and pedagogy was discussed to affirm the knowledge and identities of immigrant students and families.