The document discusses cognitive load theory and how it relates to effective learning design. It explains that working memory has limited capacity and is used for intrinsic cognitive load, extraneous load from delivery methods, and germane load from building on prior knowledge. Two experiments showed that using sparser slides with less text in lectures and videos led to better recall of themes compared to traditional bulleted slides packed with information. Reducing extraneous cognitive load may help promote germane load and more effective learning.
Slides from my talk at Presentation Camp London, held at the Salmon Centre in Bermondsey on Sun 17th Jan, 2010.
This presentation was adapted from my TCUK09 talk on about half an hour's notice as I hadn't planned to present anything at PCL1! Interesting experience :)
Seven Ineffective Coding Habits of Many ProgrammersKevlin Henney
Presented at NDC 2014 in Oslo (4th June 2014)
Video available on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/97329157
Habits help you manage the complexity of code. You apply existing skill and knowledge automatically to the detail while focusing on the bigger picture. But because you acquire habits largely by imitation, and rarely question them, how do you know your habits are effective? Many of the habits that programmers have for naming, formatting, commenting and unit testing do not stand up as rational and practical on closer inspection.
This talk examines seven coding habits that are not as effective as programmers believe, and suggests alternatives.
Slides from my talk at Presentation Camp London, held at the Salmon Centre in Bermondsey on Sun 17th Jan, 2010.
This presentation was adapted from my TCUK09 talk on about half an hour's notice as I hadn't planned to present anything at PCL1! Interesting experience :)
Seven Ineffective Coding Habits of Many ProgrammersKevlin Henney
Presented at NDC 2014 in Oslo (4th June 2014)
Video available on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/97329157
Habits help you manage the complexity of code. You apply existing skill and knowledge automatically to the detail while focusing on the bigger picture. But because you acquire habits largely by imitation, and rarely question them, how do you know your habits are effective? Many of the habits that programmers have for naming, formatting, commenting and unit testing do not stand up as rational and practical on closer inspection.
This talk examines seven coding habits that are not as effective as programmers believe, and suggests alternatives.
Presented at UX Australia 2011, Sydney, as part of the 10 minute series. This talk looks at inclusive and universal design tips for cognitive disabilities.
Understanding Stereotypes for Cognitive Designallisonvleach
As part of my Cognitive Science class this last Spring, I presented an overview of how stereotypes influence human behavior. This topic is especially useful to cognitive designers - a category of designers who regularly incorporate findings from cognitive science to enrich the development of new products and experiences.
What is UX and how can it help your organisation?Ned Potter
An overview of User Experience techniques. No longer just web usability testing, there's a new much more human movement in UX. This presentation outlines the key components, with examples: ethnography, and human-centred design.
Adaptive Input — Breaking Development Conference, San DiegoJason Grigsby
Windows 8. Chromebook Pixel. Ubuntu Phone. These devices shatter another consensual hallucination that we web developers have bought into: mobile = touch and desktop = keyboard and mouse.
We have tablets with keyboards; laptops that become tablets; laptops with touch screens; phones with physical keyboards; and even phones that become desktop computers. Not to mention new forms of input like cameras, voice control, and sensors.
We've learned how to respond to screen size. Our next challenge is learning how to adapt to different forms of input.
Cognitive Analytics will become the chief focus of innovation, will converge all big data, it will take a root in global governance and it will start to automate most data analytics among other advantages. Want to consider it?
What is cognitive load theory and why should you care?Jo Hanna Pearce
A 5 minute lightning talk giving an overview of cognitive load theory and how we can apply it to managing software development.
First presented at London Web Standards meetup on 25/01/2016
Personalized Intelligence in KOL engagement and why it's all about you. Jason Smith
At MASS West 2016, rMark Bio's CEO, Jason Smith, discusses how big data and cognitive computing can be leveraged to provide personalized business intelligence for the life science industry.
Looking at the relationship between Machine Learning, Deep Learning and the Brain
Slides from a talk given at the Machine Learning and AI meetup in Melbourne. http://www.meetup.com/Machine-Learning-AI-Meetup/events/227156709/
The Conversation Gets Interesting: Creating the Adaptive InterfaceStephen Anderson
With the proliferation of rich Internet applications and interactions more closely aligned with how people think, we face some interesting challenges:
* Do we design for one common audience and common tasks, or tailor applications around specific audiences and their unique activities?
* How do we resolve the tension between creating simple applications that ‘do less’ and the demand for new features that some people really do need?
* As we move beyond usability to create desirable interfaces, how do we handle a subjective domain like emotions?
These types of challenges could all be addressed by creating a truly ‘adaptive' interface. More than removing unused menu options or collaborative filtering, this would include functionality that is revealed over time as well as interface elements that change based on usage. Imagine the web-based email client that begins offering three forms fields for attachments instead of the default one, because it 'noticed' that you frequently upload more than one file. Or the navigation menu that disappears because it is not relevant to the task at hand. Sound scary? Look at the world of game design, where inconsistency has never been an issue and where users learn new functions over time, as needed. In the same ways that ads are becoming more targeted around context and behavior, we can also create interfaces that respond, suggest, or change based on actual usage data.
While much of this is still speculative, we'll explore some concrete examples of how such ideas have already been used, and other instances where they could be used. We'll also take a brief look at what technologies might support these interactions, as well as some of the rules engines that might make this possible. And, to ground this in the past, we'll at some existing navigational theories and research that might support this argument for an interface that is truly conversational and context aware.
For all our accumulated information there's a clear absence of understanding. Are sensemaking tools the next big thing?
(Keynote give at Big Design 12: http://bigdesignevents.com/sessions/to-boldly-go-from-information-to-understanding )
(Subtitle — User Experience: an Agony in Eight Fits)
Talk given by Chris Atherton at Technical Communication UK, 22nd September 2010.
The idea of this presentation was to introduce some findings from experimental psychology that might influence user experience design. Also, it was fun to see how riled up people can get about shower control design ... :)
Presented at UX Australia 2011, Sydney, as part of the 10 minute series. This talk looks at inclusive and universal design tips for cognitive disabilities.
Understanding Stereotypes for Cognitive Designallisonvleach
As part of my Cognitive Science class this last Spring, I presented an overview of how stereotypes influence human behavior. This topic is especially useful to cognitive designers - a category of designers who regularly incorporate findings from cognitive science to enrich the development of new products and experiences.
What is UX and how can it help your organisation?Ned Potter
An overview of User Experience techniques. No longer just web usability testing, there's a new much more human movement in UX. This presentation outlines the key components, with examples: ethnography, and human-centred design.
Adaptive Input — Breaking Development Conference, San DiegoJason Grigsby
Windows 8. Chromebook Pixel. Ubuntu Phone. These devices shatter another consensual hallucination that we web developers have bought into: mobile = touch and desktop = keyboard and mouse.
We have tablets with keyboards; laptops that become tablets; laptops with touch screens; phones with physical keyboards; and even phones that become desktop computers. Not to mention new forms of input like cameras, voice control, and sensors.
We've learned how to respond to screen size. Our next challenge is learning how to adapt to different forms of input.
Cognitive Analytics will become the chief focus of innovation, will converge all big data, it will take a root in global governance and it will start to automate most data analytics among other advantages. Want to consider it?
What is cognitive load theory and why should you care?Jo Hanna Pearce
A 5 minute lightning talk giving an overview of cognitive load theory and how we can apply it to managing software development.
First presented at London Web Standards meetup on 25/01/2016
Personalized Intelligence in KOL engagement and why it's all about you. Jason Smith
At MASS West 2016, rMark Bio's CEO, Jason Smith, discusses how big data and cognitive computing can be leveraged to provide personalized business intelligence for the life science industry.
Looking at the relationship between Machine Learning, Deep Learning and the Brain
Slides from a talk given at the Machine Learning and AI meetup in Melbourne. http://www.meetup.com/Machine-Learning-AI-Meetup/events/227156709/
The Conversation Gets Interesting: Creating the Adaptive InterfaceStephen Anderson
With the proliferation of rich Internet applications and interactions more closely aligned with how people think, we face some interesting challenges:
* Do we design for one common audience and common tasks, or tailor applications around specific audiences and their unique activities?
* How do we resolve the tension between creating simple applications that ‘do less’ and the demand for new features that some people really do need?
* As we move beyond usability to create desirable interfaces, how do we handle a subjective domain like emotions?
These types of challenges could all be addressed by creating a truly ‘adaptive' interface. More than removing unused menu options or collaborative filtering, this would include functionality that is revealed over time as well as interface elements that change based on usage. Imagine the web-based email client that begins offering three forms fields for attachments instead of the default one, because it 'noticed' that you frequently upload more than one file. Or the navigation menu that disappears because it is not relevant to the task at hand. Sound scary? Look at the world of game design, where inconsistency has never been an issue and where users learn new functions over time, as needed. In the same ways that ads are becoming more targeted around context and behavior, we can also create interfaces that respond, suggest, or change based on actual usage data.
While much of this is still speculative, we'll explore some concrete examples of how such ideas have already been used, and other instances where they could be used. We'll also take a brief look at what technologies might support these interactions, as well as some of the rules engines that might make this possible. And, to ground this in the past, we'll at some existing navigational theories and research that might support this argument for an interface that is truly conversational and context aware.
For all our accumulated information there's a clear absence of understanding. Are sensemaking tools the next big thing?
(Keynote give at Big Design 12: http://bigdesignevents.com/sessions/to-boldly-go-from-information-to-understanding )
(Subtitle — User Experience: an Agony in Eight Fits)
Talk given by Chris Atherton at Technical Communication UK, 22nd September 2010.
The idea of this presentation was to introduce some findings from experimental psychology that might influence user experience design. Also, it was fun to see how riled up people can get about shower control design ... :)
This presentation was done for a departmental professional development at my corporate company. It was done to introduce course developers with no education background into the concept of learning and why it was important to "buy in" to the theories. I created some content and pulled bits and pieces from other works. Sorry if I was lousy at
Project Risk Management Grading Guide
Resources:
· Baltzan, P., and Phillips, A. (2015). Business Driven Information Systems (5th ed).
· Week 5 articles
· It is recommended students search the Internet for a Project Risk Management Plan template.
Scenario: You are an entrepreneur in the process of researching a business development idea. As you create a high-level Information Technology (IT) strategy for your new enterprise, it is important to address risks to IT. A Project Risk Management Plan will guide the process of identifying enterprise risks and the appropriate steps to mitigate and manage the risks. The Data Collection Plan is intended to describe a high-level process for applying enterprise resources in identifying, analyzing, and mitigating IT risks. The Risk Management Plan is a working document, which is expected to change over time as new project details emerge.
Create a high-level Project Risk Management Plan for your project in a minimum of 1,050 words which includes the following information:
· A description of the enterprise IT risks
· An assessment of the enterprise exposure to each risk
· A summary of the highest priority risks
· High-level procedures to mitigate and manage the most likely risks
· High-level procedures to address business resumption and disaster recovery
Cite a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed references from the University of Phoenix Library.
Format consistent with APA guidelines.
Submit your assignment.
chapter 6
The Acquisition of Memories and
the Working-Memory System
Acquisition, Storage, and Retrieval
How does new information-whether it's a friend's phone number or a fact you hope to memorize for the bio exam-become established in memory? Are there ways to learn that are particularly effective? Then, once information is in storage, how do you locate it and "reactivate" it later? And why does search through memory sometimes fail-so that, for example, you forget the name of that great restaurant downtown (but then remember the name when you're midway through a mediocre dinner someplace else)?
In tackling these questions, there's a logical way to organize our inquiry. Before there can be a some new information. Therefore, acquisition-the process memory, you need to gain, or "acquire," of gaining information and placing it into memory-should be our first topic. Then, once you've acquired this information, you need to hold it in memory until the information is needed. We refer to this as the storage phase. Finally, you remember. In other words, you somehow locate the information in the vast warehouse that is memory and you bring it into active use; this is called retrieval.
This organization seems logical; it fits, for example, with the way most "electronic memories" (e.g., computers) work. Information ("input") is provided to a computer (the acquisition phase). The information then resides in some dormant form, generally on the hard drive or perhaps in the cloud (the storage phase). Finally, th ...
Semi supervised learning machine learning made simpleDevansh16
Video: https://youtu.be/65RV3O4UR3w
Semi-Supervised Learning is a technique that combines the benefits of supervised learning (performance, intuitiveness) with the ability to use cheap unlabeled data (unsupervised learning). With all the cheap data available, Semi Supervised Learning will get bigger in the coming months. This episode of Machine Learning Made Simple will go into SSL, how it works, transduction vs induction, the assumptions SSL algorithms make, and how SSL compares to human learning.
About Machine Learning Made Simple:
Machine Learning Made Simple is a playlist that aims to break down complex Machine Learning and AI topics into digestible videos. With this playlist, you can dive head first into the world of ML implementation and/or research. Feel free to drop any feedback you might have down below.
Brain rules 1, 2, 3: Put neuroscience in your presentationsPresented.
Neuroscience should be applied to PowerPoint presentations to make them more effective.
Create and design your slides with your audience in mind: not just in terms of content, but also how you display information on the slide, and the presentation as a whole.
Plenty of multimedia learning presentation tips in these 3 brain rules.
1
Memory
Tiffany Daniels, M.S.
1
Let’s Start With a Memory
Challenge
• I’m going to read you a grocery list. Use
whatever memory strategies that you
think will be most effective to memorize
the items. When I am done, write down
as many items as you can remember.
You do not have to remember them in
order.
2
Key Terms
• Memory - The retention of information
over time through the processes of
encoding, storage, & retrieval.
• Encoding - Process by which
information gets into memory storage
• Storage - Retention of information over
time and the representation of
information in memory.
• Retrieval - The memory process of
taking information out of storage.
3
Encoding
• Requires selective attention
• Divided attention - occurs when a person
must attend to several things at once
• Selective/Sustained attention (focusing on
one thing for a prolonged period of time) is
better than divided attention in terms of
retrieval
4
Encoding
• Levels of Processing Model (Craik &
Lockhart 1972)
• Shallow level: The sensory of physical
features are analyzed.
• Intermediate level: The stimulus is
recognized and given a label.
• Deepest level: Information is processed
semantically, in terms of meaning.
5
“All I see is a bunch of ink on
this page! I’m so zoned out, I’m
not even making out the words!”
“I am reading the words but
I don’t understand it. I keep
reading the same line over
and over!”
“Not only do I understand
what I just read, but I can
apply it to myself, create
examples, and even share
what I learned with a friend!”
6
2
Encoding
• An individual’s memories are better if he or
she uses the deepest processing level.
• Memories are also better if using
elaboration when encoding.
• Elaboration: extensiveness of processing
at any given level of memory.
• Self-references, generating examples, and
using imagery are better than simple rote
memorization
7
Encoding
• Flashcards are a type of rote memorization –
how effective are they in the long term?
• It is also important to be motivated to
remember
• How easy is it to encode, store, and retrieve
information for your least favorite class?
8
Memory Storage
• The Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory (1968)
• Storage involves 3 separate systems
• Sensory Memory: time frames of a fraction
of a second to several seconds
• Short-Term Memory (STM): time frames up
to 30 seconds
• Long Term Memory (LTM): time frames up
to a lifetime
9
Sensory Memory
• Includes:
• Iconic memory (visual sensory memory) -
we can remember things that quickly flash
before our eyes
• Echoic memory (auditory sensory memory)
- we can remember sounds after the fact,
even if we weren’t attending to them.
10
Short-Term Memory
• Capacity is 7 ± 2 (called “Miller’s Magical
Number)
• Means we can usually remember on
average, between 5-9 items in a list
(example: phone numbers, Social Sec. #)
• Can improve short-term memory by using
rehearsal and chunking.
11 ...
Title: Uncomfortable UX: making life difficult and improving your product
Description: No wireframe survives contact with the user. This is great for UX people, because it means our lives are never dull — but it also makes things complicated for developers who just want to get on and build something. While it can be uncomfortable to challenge a team’s assumptions about what you are building and who it’s for, it is absolutely worthwhile. In this session, I will talk about:
* getting over the fear of putting something half-finished in front of users
* how to get fast feedback from your users
* different ways to involve your team in research
* quick methods for communicating research findings
* some surprising ways that continuous feedback from users benefits everyone
Chris Atherton (@finiteattention) at #DareConf Mini, 20th January 2014.
From the conference programme:
Other people can drive us crazy. So when understanding people forms a big part of your job, you have two choices: be driven crazy, or start finding people delightful, pronto. In this session, Chris will explain why understanding people for a living will make you happier. You’ll learn:
* the #1 rule for liking people more,
* how to use barely-games to start empathising with other people,
* how to start scary conversations by setting simple challenges (spoiler: they’re not really that scary), and
* how to turn conversations into services that do what your business and your customers actually want
UPDATE: video of this now available: http://2014.dareconf.com/mini/london/atherton. If you enjoy it, please donate! It helps Dare run another event again soon.
Lightning talk (20 slides x 15 seconds each) given by Chris Atherton at Content Strategy Lightning talks in London, 26th Feb 2013. All mistakes my own :o)
This talk was most definitely for fun — an after-hours audience, with beer. The format of Bettakultcha talks is 20 slides for 15 seconds each (they transition automatically), and you can talk about anything you want.
This was my first time using hand-drawn slides; I had fun. Annotations were added afterwards so this made some kind of sense when uploaded :)
And no, I don't get any kind of kickback for mentioning Paper for iPad. I just think it's brilliant.
Ph.D. thesis by Dr Chris Atherton that uses functional brain imaging to establish the mechanisms of object constancy underpinning misoriented shape recognition. The thesis has two introductory chapters: the first on psychometric studies of object recognition, the second on brain-imaging and neuropsychological investigations in the field. Of the three experimental chapters, two use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the areas of of the brain associated with viewpoint-dependent and -independent object recognition, and one uses event-related potentials (ERPs, an application of EEG), to assess the relative temporal engagement of these areas. The final chapter brings together the results of the experimental chapters to make some suggestions about the likely nature of object constancy mechanisms.
Slides from a talk by Dr Chris Atherton from the University of Central Lancashire about the brain's limits of attention and cognitive load, and how we can work around that to ensure that we still have people's attention (in education, technical communication, etc)
Generating a custom Ruby SDK for your web service or Rails API using Smithyg2nightmarescribd
Have you ever wanted a Ruby client API to communicate with your web service? Smithy is a protocol-agnostic language for defining services and SDKs. Smithy Ruby is an implementation of Smithy that generates a Ruby SDK using a Smithy model. In this talk, we will explore Smithy and Smithy Ruby to learn how to generate custom feature-rich SDKs that can communicate with any web service, such as a Rails JSON API.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Software Delivery At the Speed of AI: Inflectra Invests In AI-Powered QualityInflectra
In this insightful webinar, Inflectra explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming software development and testing. Discover how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and monitoring.
Learn about:
• The Future of Testing: How AI is shifting testing towards verification, analysis, and higher-level skills, while reducing repetitive tasks.
• Test Automation: How AI-powered test case generation, optimization, and self-healing tests are making testing more efficient and effective.
• Visual Testing: Explore the emerging capabilities of AI in visual testing and how it's set to revolutionize UI verification.
• Inflectra's AI Solutions: See demonstrations of Inflectra's cutting-edge AI tools like the ChatGPT plugin and Azure Open AI platform, designed to streamline your testing process.
Whether you're a developer, tester, or QA professional, this webinar will give you valuable insights into how AI is shaping the future of software delivery.
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
2. Overview
• Tufte & Death By Powerpoint
• The limits of Working Memory
• Schema theory and learning design
• Cognitive Load Theory
• The use of sparse slides
• You’re really reading this, aren’t you.
• Look — reading is almost certainly
compromising your ability to listen.
Really. I’ll get into that shortly.
The audience started laughing before I got to the last points,
illustrating nicely that they read faster than I can talk.
3. niwer
So let’s start again, before the bullet-points.
(I think this is kinda pretty.)
4. Tufte has done some awesome stuff (e.g. the info-to-ink-ratio)
but he’s still a bit “shoot the messenger” for my taste.
5. death by PowerPoint
• Tufte & Death By Powerpoint
• The limits of Working Memory
• Schema theory and learning design
• Cognitive Load Theory
• The use of sparse slides
• You’re really reading this, aren’t you.
• Look — reading is almost certainly
compromising your ability to listen.
Really. I’ll get into that shortly.
Here I talk about “Death By PowerPoint” a bit. Google it if it’s
new to you, though chances are the sentiment is familiar.
7. (NPR.org / Wordle.net)
NPR asked 4,000 people for three words they remembered
from the State of the Union. Salience trumps repetition.
8. death by PowerPoint
• Tufte & Death By Powerpoint
• The limits of Working Memory
• Schema theory and learning design
• Cognitive Load Theory
• The use of sparse slides
• You’re really reading this, aren’t you.
• Look — reading is almost certainly
compromising your ability to listen.
Really. I’ll get into that shortly.
When we gripe that PowerPoint is intrinsically unmemorable,
remember that memory is also intrinsically unreliable.
9. Probably not evil.
In other words, don’t shoot the messenger. PowerPoint can
be used well, or badly. We’ll come back to this a bit later.
10. Experiment time. Here I told the audience they would have ten
seconds to memorise the information on the next slide.
16. WTMHYELABPP
that’s amore
But when I add a clue, suddenly it all makes sense.
(I didn’t mean to sing this part; it just came out. Oops.)
17. WTMHYELABPP
that’s amore
Now these 11 pieces of information have become one piece,
which illustrates the idea of ‘chunking’ information
18. “The procedure is quite simple. First, you
arrange items into different groups. Of
course one pile may be sufficient depending
on how much there is to do. If you have to
go somewhere else due to lack of facilities
that is the next step; otherwise, you are
pretty well set. It is important not to
overdo things. That is, it is better to do too
few things at once than too many. In the
short run this may not seem important but
complications can easily arise.”
It’s demonstrably hard to recall or even process this
information, because it’s just so vague. What is it about?
19. doing the laundry
“The procedure is quite simple. First, you
arrange items into different groups. Of
course one pile may be sufficient depending
on how much there is to do. If you have to
go somewhere else due to lack of facilities
that is the next step; otherwise, you are
pretty well set. It is important not to
overdo things. That is, it is better to do too
few things at once than too many. In the
short run this may not seem important but
complications can easily arise.”
Oh, I see.
(Bransford & Johnson, 1972)
20. (e.g., Anderson, 1977)
schema
Schema = story or rule of thumb. Having activated our laundry
schema, it’s much easier to understand and recall the text.
21. hanging information
up
Good learning design bridges the gap between people’s
previous knowledge (the tree) and new info (the decorations)
22. (e.g., Sweller, 1994)
cognitive load
Cognitive load theory is a useful framework for thinking about
where working memory is being ‘spent’ during learning.
23. Who likes Japanese food? Even if you love sushi, you can only
have so much; there is limited room in the bento.
24. ... unless you ask for no salmon and extra sushi. Bear with me.
25. working
memory
Can you tell where this slightly laboured metaphor is going?
26. Just as the bento has limited space for your lunch, so working
memory has limited capacity for the different parts of learning.
27. Intrinsic
Difficulty
Some of your working memory is taken up by how difficult the
task is. Nothing we can do about this; complex is complex.
28. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
Some of working memory is also consumed by
the manner and mode of delivery.
29. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
Schema
Building
Some of working memory is used up on ‘good work’, attaching
new information to the ‘tree’ of previous knowledge.
30. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
day- Schema
dreaming Building
If none of these is too onerous, maybe you’ll have
some space left over for other things.
31. Delivery
Intrinsic
Difficulty
Schema
Building
We know that during hard tasks, we have to concentrate
more; less room for daydreaming or other trivia.
32. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
Schema
Delivery
Building
Sometimes, a lot of working memory can be taken up
by the information-delivery process.
33. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
Delivery
Schema
Building
... sometimes maybe at the cost of actually linking the new stuff
with your previous knowledge of the subject.
34. Intrinsic
Delivery
Difficulty
Schema
Building
Ideally, we want as much working memory as possible spare, to
help us learn effectively by elaborating on existing schemas.
35. E
x
t
r
Intrinsic
a
n
e
o
u
s
Germane
Cognitive load theory uses these terms to refer to these
different impositions on working memory.
36. reducing extraneous
load
So surely, one of the aims of good learning design should be to
reduce extraneous load and promote germane load?
37. 1. video
Our first experiment (Atherton, Morley & Pitchford, in prep.)
involved making a video with slides and an audio track.
38. traditional
The audio track was consistent for all presentations; the slides
varied. Traditional slides were bulleted and info-dense.
40. sparse with diagrams
The last condition also had sparse slides, but these also
contained diagrams where appropriate.
41. themes
4
3
2
trad. sparse sparse
text text &
pics
People who watched the video with sparser slides
recalled significantly more themes afterwards.
42. 2. lecture
That’s okay for video, but what about in-person learning?
Here we tried this again, but ‘live’ in the lecture theatre.
43. traditional
Again, we had a ‘traditional’ condition where participants saw a
set of slides with bullet-points and lots of information.
44. sparse
The other condition used sparse slides (again, more slides with
faster transitions) and tried to keep slide-info to a minimum.
45. themes *
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
traditional
trad. sparse
sparse
slides text
slides
Again, we found that those in the sparse text group recalled
significantly more themes from the presentation.
46. E
xt
ra
Intrinsic
n
eo
us
Germane
So how does this fit in with our model of cognitive load?
47. Ex
tr
a ne
ou
Intrinsic s
Difficulty
Germane
One interpretation is that sparser slides reduce extraneous
load, leaving more working memory for schema building.
49. WTMHYEL
Sure, working memory is limited, but the phonological and
visual parts of the brain each have their own WM store.
50. WTMHYEL
In other words, learners can potentially receive
more information if you feed both centres.
51. death by PowerPoint
• Tufte & Death By Powerpoint
• The limits of Working Memory
• Schema theory and learning design
• Cognitive Load Theory
• The use of sparse slides
• You’re really reading this, aren’t you.
• Look — reading is almost certainly
compromising your ability to listen.
Really. I’ll get into that shortly.
So if we think about Death By PowerPoint again ...
52. death by PowerPoint
Bored
Overloaded
... visual working memory has very little to do, while
auditory working memory has to read and listen!
53. The part of the brain
that lights up when it
sees pictures of the
brain.
Mea culpa: forgot attribution here. Sorry!
http://flickr.com/photos/quinn/4252155172
54. The part of the brain
that lights up when it
sees pictures of the
brain.
Question everything! There’s evidence that even when
neuroscience-related terminology doesn’t directly
support an argument, we’re still more likely to accept the
argument if it is present (Skolnick Weisberg et al., 2008)
55. Let’s talk!
@FiniteAttention
FiniteAttentionSpan
.Wordpress.com
CJAtherton@UCLan.ac.uk
Thanks to my colleagues Andy Morley and Mel Pitchford,
and to Learning Technologies for the invitation to speak :)