"Good instructional design is driven by our knowledge of human cognitive structures and the manner in which those structures are organised into a cognitive architecture. Without knowledge .. such as the ... characteristics of and intricate relations between working memory and long-term memory, the effectiveness of instructional design is likely to be random." (John Sweller, 2014)

The cognitiveload.com.au group at Southern Cross University is a group of researchers who are involved with a variety of projects that include Cognitive Load Theory. Although these researchers are situated in an Information Technology discipline, their focus is multi-disciplinary. This site details some of their current projects, and in the near future will link to publications, research opportunities and other resources.

News

Cognitive Load perspective on International Student exams

Closely related to out previous work on cognitive load theory applied in authentic learning environments was a new study published this month at the Australasian Computing Education Conference. The paper looked at the difference in performance of international students given an exam that had had its design modified by cognitive load theory application, without decreasing the difficulty of the content.