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- Vol 4 TE: App C
intrinsic cognitive loadsubjective mental effortelement interactivitycognitive load measurementalgebra problem solvinglearner expertiseJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Ayres investigates whether learners' own ratings of mental effort can detect changes in intrinsic cognitive load within a single task. In two experiments, students solved algebra problems and rated cognitive load after each computation.
Key ideas
Because the problems were designed to hold extraneous and germane load relatively constant, variation in ratings was interpreted as variation in element interactivity: the number and relation of information elements that must be processed together. The ratings were highly reliable, changed significantly across steps within problems, and were strongly related to errors. They also reflected learner expertise and procedural mistakes. The study therefore extends subjective rating scales beyond comparisons between whole tasks or instructional conditions.
Why it matters
For educators and researchers, it shows that a brief rating can reveal where a multistep problem becomes cognitively demanding, although ratings must be interpreted alongside performance and prior knowledge.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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