Werner Rieß

Oliver Lovell

Tino Endres

David Morkunas

Alexander Renkl

Abstract: Background & Aims Cognitive load theory assumes that the higher the learner's prior knowledge (i.e., the more expert the learner), the lower the intrinsic cognitive load (complexity) experienced for a given problem. While this is the case in many scenarios, there can be cases in which the converse is also true, resulting in more expert learners reporting higher intrinsic cognitive load than novices for the same problem. This can occur in relation to problems involving complex systems (e.g., ecological systems), for which novices' problem representations may underestimate problem complexity and therefore report lower intrinsic load than experts. This finding is borne out in the current paper. Samples, Methods & Results In Study 1 with 118 participants from the Black Forest area in Germany, participants with higher levels of forestry and ecological expertise evaluated a problem relating to the restructuring of the Black Forest to adapt to climate change as more complex than did novices. In Study 2 (within-subjects design, n = 66 primary-school students), we conceptually replicated this finding in a domain more typical of cognitive load theory studies, mathematics. We found that higher prior knowledge also reduced the underestimation of the complexity of 'tricky', but frequently used, mathematics word problems. Conclusion Our findings suggest that cognitive load theory's assumptions about intrinsic load and prior knowledge should be refined, as there seems to exist a sub-set of problem-solving tasks for which the traditional relationship between prior knowledge and reported ICL is reversed

Can Prior Knowledge Increase Task Complexity? - Cases in which Higher Prior Knowledge Leads to Higher Intrinsic Cognitive Load

Heino Apel

Empirische Forschung zur Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung ist auch 13 Jahre nach der Rio-Konferenz zu Umwelt und Entwicklung noch ein Desiderat. Die Kommission "Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung" (in der DGfE) hat im März 2004 ein Forschungsmemorandum entworfen. Mit diesem Memorandum soll ein Orientierungsrahmen für Forschungsaktivitäten im Rahmen der Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung angeboten werden. Es wurden fünf Forschungsfelder als "vordringlich zu bearbeiten" deklariert: Lehr-Lernforschung, Qualitätsforschung, Surveyforschung, Innovationsforschung und Genderforschung. Die ersten Forschungsergebnisse aus diesen Feldern werden in diesem Band präsentiert.

Werner Rieß

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