Managing Intrinsic Cognitive Load

Intrinsic load refers to the mental effort required to hold information in working memory. When information is more complex or difficult to understand, this becomes harder.

An intrinsic load is necessary for learning, but it limits and restricts the learner’s ability to take in new information.

As an instructional designer, it is important to help manage the intrinsic load of your learner so that they can learn more efficiently.

Managing intrinsic load is about presenting content in a way that is less taxing for the learner.

This allows the learner to absorb more content. There are a few ways you can manage the intrinsic load of the learner.

SEGMENTING PRINCIPLE

The segmenting principle recommends dividing complex content into smaller segments.

All learning requires cognitive effort. While simple concepts may require very little effort, other concepts are more complex and can be difficult to learn.

Consider the recipe card for how to boil eggs below.

Do you remember what we learned about working memory? It can hold 5-9 “chunks” of information at a time. So, learning the six steps it takes to boil an egg is relatively easy.

Compare that to learning to make crème br?lée.

If you try to simplify a complex concept, you will sacrifice accuracy. For example, if you try to remove some of the steps to making crème br?lée, the result will not be successful. However, you can make a complex concept easier to understand through segmenting.

Segmenting, or chunking, involves separating complex content, like an entire crème br?lée recipe, into smaller segments.

For example, you might segment the crème br?lée recipe in the following way:

Instead of expecting the learner to hold all the information about how to make crème br?lée in their working memory as they bake, getting lost as they follow 14 steps at once, they can learn 3-5 steps at a time, which helps to manage the intrinsic load.

To make sure the learner remembers the information from each segment at the end of the learning experience, rather than moving on and forgetting, they must have ample opportunities to practice and show mastery throughout each segment before moving on.

It can be helpful to review information from the previous segment(s) or provide reminders of key terms or concepts as the learner moves on to the next lesson.

When segmenting content, it is also important for the learner to have control over how quickly they proceed through the lesson. If the pacing is controlled by the system, the learner may not have enough time to process information.

Instead, provide a “continue” button, or something similar, so that the learner can choose when to move on so that they are not overloaded by moving through information too quickly.

This concept applies to longer videos as well.

If the user has a “pause” button, they are unlikely to use it. Instead, break up the video into segments and provide stopping points where the user is required to press “continue” to move on. This will give them the time and space to make sense of the information in the video before continuing.

ASK YOURSELF

• Is complex information (including video) broken up into smaller segments?
• Can the learner practice each segment before moving on?
• Are “continue” buttons provided for self-paced navigation?

PRE-TRAINING PRINCIPLE

The pre-training principle recommends providing the names and characteristics of the main concepts in a lesson before teaching the content.

So, for a lesson on classical conditioning, you might introduce the terms unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response, and neutral stimulus, before explaining how classical conditioning works.

Pre-training helps manage the cognitive load. Instead of learning the key terms at the same time as the lesson content, possibly overwhelming the learner, key terms and concepts are taught beforehand, so that the learner has more space in working memory to learn the content.

However, if the learner moves on from pre-training before understanding the key information, this preparation will be ineffective. To avoid this, give the learner opportunities to practice the information taught during pre-training to reinforce their understanding.

Additionally, it can be helpful to provide reminders of key terms throughout the lesson in case the learner forgets them.

ASK YOURSELF

• Are key terms and concepts introduced before the lesson content?
• Is the learner able to rehearse key terms before moving on?
• Are reminders of key terms provided during the lesson as appropriate?

MODALITY PRINCIPLE

The modality principle suggests using narration, rather than on-screen text, to explain visuals.

Consider the visual below, showing the regions of the brain. Next to it is the description explaining where each region is located as well as the purpose of that region.

Going back and forth between the graphic and the text-based description divides the learner’s attention and makes it more difficult to process the information. All the information is coming in through the visual channel, creating a heavy visual load.

Now imagine the description as a narration. As the narration plays, the learner can look for the corresponding labels and visualize where each brain region is located by referencing the graphic. The information is distributed between the visual and auditory channels, which is processed simultaneously, giving the learner more space to process the information.

If key terms are referenced in the narration, it can be helpful to provide these terms as on-screen text. Notice how the graphic above includes labels that include the key terms, rather than simply marking the different regions of the brain. This allows the learner to easily refer back to this information without having to replay the audio.

While it is generally best practice to explain visuals through narration, including this information as text may be more appropriate if the narration is particularly long or complex. This way, the learner can read the information at their own pace, pay attention to unknown terms, and refer back to the parts of the text that are difficult to understand.

In this case, you may need to determine which information directly refers to the visual and only include this portion of the information as a narration.

The modality principle works best when the narrations are short, easy to understand, and directly relate to the visual. If you are not explaining a visual, the modality principle does not apply.

ASK YOURSELF

• Are visuals explained through narration, rather than text?