Cognitive load
The amount of working-memory effort a task demands. Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller) divides it into intrinsic load (the inherent difficulty of the material, which can only be sequenced well), extraneous load, and germane load (the productive effort of understanding and using the material).
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 4 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in AI Literacy & Professional Conduct.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
The amount of working-memory capacity a task demands at a given moment; a learner with no automatic recall yet for a new skill has little spare capacity left for the added demand of a Socratic question, which is why scaffolding matches question difficulty to demonstrated stage rather than asking hard questions uniformly (Sweller, Cognitive Science, 1988).
The amount of working-memory effort a task demands. Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller) divides it into intrinsic load (the inherent difficulty of the material, which can only be sequenced well), extraneous load, and germane load (the productive effort of understanding and using the material).
The amount of working memory a task demands. Automatic tool use lowers it, freeing attention for higher-level understanding.
The amount of new, unorganized information a reader's working memory has to hold at once; described by educational psychologist John Sweller starting in 1988, and the underlying reason conclusion-first writing is easier for a reader to use than chronological, evidence-first writing.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- Your Digital Foundation Assessment: Gateway Checkpoint · Digital Foundations, AI Literacy & Professional Conduct
- Recipient-Centered Output Design · Practical AI Workflow Design and Prompt Engineering, AI Literacy & Professional Conduct
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.