I have done some readings into Cognitive Load, and completely agree to the theory that we can only take in so much at one time. I cannot read one thing while trying to listen to something else. I tried this today on the train, unsuccessfully. I usually listen to music on the train while I read the morning paper. But for my other course this semester, we are tasked with listening to some podcasts. I downloaded one on my phone and thought I could listen to it while mindlessly playing a game on my phone. But I couldn't navigate off the podcast screen to play a game or the audio would stop. Plan foiled!
I was left with listening to a podcast interview with nothing to look at, so inevitably I scanned the headlines in the paper. Attempting to read while paying attention to the podcast was futile. I do think I could have played Words with Friends or Farm Heroes Saga while listening, though, if only my phone would cooperate!
I have definitely used some of the suggestions from Cognitive Load research in my training: Don't talk over content while asking the student to read text on the screen. Support visuals with complementary audio since people can process visual and auditory messages at the same time, etc.
It surprised me how many divisions of the brain there are, or hypotheses into how the brain works and retrieves information.
- Sensory/Short-term/long-term
- Encoding/storage/retrieval
- left brain/right brain
- reptilian/limbic/neo-cortex
Which one is "right"? Or are they all "right"? There has been so much research into the brain and memory and learning styles and intelligence, but the authors of one of our books basically concluded that all the research so far is just hypothesis and nothing is definitive. I guess it's interesting to think about all these different theories and hypotheses, but a little disappointing that we cannot point to one theory or process to help guide us in helping people learn and remember our training.
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