Multidisciplinary Research Perspectives on the Design of Innovative Learning Environments

Fred Paas, Tamara van Gog, & Femke Kirschner

Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies

Open University of the Netherlands

 

 

Innovative learning environments (ILE) can be defined as motivating arrangements for learning that aim at the development of complex and higher-order skills, deep conceptual understanding, and metacognitive skills. These outcomes foster the productive use of acquired knowledge and skill, or, the ability to apply what is learned in new problem situations and thus allow for transfer of learning. The development of flexible, transferable problem solving skills, abilities to learn in dynamic conditions and adapt to innovations is an important aim of contemporary educational systems. Since processing limitations of our mind represent a major factor influencing learning, in order to be effective and efficient, the acquisition of flexible problem solving skills needs to be based on known characteristics of our cognitive architecture.

 

This tutorial adopts a cognitive load approach to ILE, which assumes that the instructional design of the multimedia learning arrangements can be guided by knowledge gained from multidisciplinary research relating to how people process and learn information. The tutorial closely examines the cognitive structures and processes involved in the learning process and will provide an introduction to cognitive load theory. The aim of cognitive load researchers has been to engineer the instructional control of cognitive load to provide the means to optimize cognitive load in learning arrangements. This tutorial aims to explore the basic instructional design requirements to align ILE with human cognitive architecture, and to demonstrate how discoveries in other disciplines, such as neurosciences, can inform the instructional design of ILE. As such, it can be considered as an effort to stimulate the participants to broaden their research horizon from a conventional unidisciplinary perspective into a multidisciplinary perspective.

 

This tutorial will review and discuss state-of-the-art and multidisciplinary developments in research relevant for the design of ILE. It will introduce participants to major research topics and research methods in the area of human information processing, especially attention and memory that are relevant to the design of ILE. The tutorial is conducted in an interactive way with hands-on practice, demonstrations, and ample opportunity to relate to the participants’ own research and design projects through discussion at an advanced theoretical and practical level.

 

Fundamentals of multimedia learning: Perception, attention and memory

Human cognitive architecture

Cognitive load theory

Measurement of cognitive load

Instructional efficiency

Multidisciplinary contributions

Implications for design and research

 

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