In recent years there has been an increased focus on the role of education and training, and on the effectiveness and efficiency of various instructional design strategies. Some of the most important breakthroughs in this regard have come from the discipline of Cognitive Science, which deals with the mental processes of learning, memory and problem solving.
Cognitive load theory (e.g. Sweller, 1988; 1994) is an instructional theory generated by this field of research. It describes learning structures in terms of an information processing system involving long term memory, which effectively stores all of our knowledge and skills on a more-or-less permanent basis and working memory, which performs the intellectual tasks associated with consciousness. Information may only be stored in long term memory after first being attended to, and processed by, working memory. Working memory, however, is extremely limited in both capacity and duration. These limitations will, under some conditions, impede learning.
The fundamental tenet of cognitive load theory is that the quality of instructional design will be raised if greater consideration is given to the role and limitations, of working memory. Since its conception in the early 1980's, cognitive load theory has been used to develop several instructional strategies which have been demonstrated empirically to be superior to those used conventionally.
This paper outlines some of the basic principles of cognitive load theory. Examples of the instructional design strategies generated by cognitive load theory are also provided.