{"title":"Impact of cognitive load and working memory on preschoolers’ learning effectiveness","authors":"Yun Hyun Pack, Na Ya Choi, Bokyung Kim","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09898-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the impact of cognitive load and working memory on preschoolers’ learning effectiveness. A total of 184 5-year-old children in Korea participated in this study. Six types of instructional materials with different intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads were developed. Preschoolers were randomly assigned to one of the six groups and participated in learning activities specific to their groups. Preschoolers’ learning effectiveness was assessed using a learning effectiveness scale, and their working memory capacity was measured using digit span and Corsi memory tasks. The results revealed that learning effectiveness for preschoolers was high when intrinsic cognitive load in instructional materials was low, and it was low when extraneous cognitive load was added to instructional materials. Groups with high working memory capacity showed higher learning effectiveness than those with low capacity. Furthermore, in various teaching plan conditions, learning effectiveness varied depending on children’s working memory capacity. These results guide suggestions for practical and customized teaching plans suitable for cognitive development in early childhood.</p>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asia Pacific Education Review","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09898-2","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of cognitive load and working memory on preschoolers’ learning effectiveness. A total of 184 5-year-old children in Korea participated in this study. Six types of instructional materials with different intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads were developed. Preschoolers were randomly assigned to one of the six groups and participated in learning activities specific to their groups. Preschoolers’ learning effectiveness was assessed using a learning effectiveness scale, and their working memory capacity was measured using digit span and Corsi memory tasks. The results revealed that learning effectiveness for preschoolers was high when intrinsic cognitive load in instructional materials was low, and it was low when extraneous cognitive load was added to instructional materials. Groups with high working memory capacity showed higher learning effectiveness than those with low capacity. Furthermore, in various teaching plan conditions, learning effectiveness varied depending on children’s working memory capacity. These results guide suggestions for practical and customized teaching plans suitable for cognitive development in early childhood.
期刊介绍:
The Asia Pacific Education Review (APER) aims to stimulate research, encourage academic exchange, and enhance the professional development of scholars and other researchers who are interested in educational and cultural issues in the Asia Pacific region. APER covers all areas of educational research, with a focus on cross-cultural, comparative and other studies with a broad Asia-Pacific context.
APER is a peer reviewed journal produced by the Education Research Institute at Seoul National University. It was founded by the Institute of Asia Pacific Education Development, Seoul National University in 2000, which is owned and operated by Education Research Institute at Seoul National University since 2003.
APER requires all submitted manuscripts to follow the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx).