Week 3 of 6 — Making Sense of Cognitive Load (And Why My Infographic Looks Like a TEMU Ad)

Halfway through the Think: Learning Theories and Implications for Learning Design course at UTS, and things are starting to get deeper. Module 3 has been all about cognitive learning theories — and how our brains process, store, and recall information.

From Gestalt to schema theory

We started with Gestalt theory — the idea that learners seek meaning by seeing the whole, not just the parts. Think: your brain completing a partially drawn circle even when it isn't there. This "insight learning" is about the aha moment, not step-by-step instruction.

Then came information processing theory — the idea that information moves through stages:

Sensory memory — you're bombarded with stimuli; most gets filtered out immediately
Short-term (working) memory — what you're consciously attending to right now; extremely limited capacity
Long-term memory — the vast store of schemas you've built over a lifetime

Schema theory (Bartlett, Piaget) explains how we organise knowledge into mental frameworks. New information gets assimilated into existing schemas — or, when schemas don't fit, we accommodate by restructuring them.

Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory (1988)

This is where it gets practically useful. Artino (2008) helpfully distinguishes three types of cognitive load in Sweller's framework:

Intrinsic load — the inherent complexity of the material itself. You can't reduce it much, but you can sequence it well.
Extraneous load — load created by poor design. Cluttered slides, unclear instructions, unnecessary decorative graphics. This is the load we're responsible for managing.
Germane load — productive cognitive effort that actually builds schemas. This is what we want learners to experience.

The job of a learning designer: minimise extraneous load, so learners have cognitive resources available for germane load.

Practical applications

Message design — clear visual hierarchy, limited text on slides, one idea at a time
Advance organisers — give learners a map before the territory (this course does this well)
Chunking — group related information so it's stored as a single unit
Dual coding — combine verbal and visual representations (Paivio's work); they complement each other without competing for the same working memory channel
Rehearsal and retrieval practice — spacing and testing strengthen long-term storage

Why my infographic looked like a TEMU ad

In our live session, we did an in-class activity: build an infographic from scratch using any tool you like, in about 20 minutes, to explain a cognitive learning concept. I won't say mine was bad — but the feedback made it clear that I had accidentally created something with high extraneous load. Too many colours, too many visual elements competing for attention, inconsistent typography.

The irony of designing a cluttered infographic to explain cognitive load theory was not lost on me.

It was a genuinely useful lesson: the difference between knowing design principles and applying them under time pressure is significant. Expertise in theory doesn't automatically translate to skilled execution. That takes practice, feedback, and iteration — which is also very much what cognitive load theory would predict.

References

Artino, A. R. (2008). Cognitive load theory and the role of learner experience: An abbreviated review for educational practitioners. AACE Journal, 16(4), 425–439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-007-9065-9

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.