Effect Of Instructional Media On Extraneous Cognitive Load: A Study Of Elementary Level Students In Pakistan

Abstract

The study was experimental in which the researchers used a quantitative approach to collect data. It investigated the effect of instructional material on the extraneous cognitive load of students in the subject of general science at the elementary level in a district of Punjab. The population of the study was 7^th-grade students enrolled in high schools, from the school education department. The cognitive load test developed by Leppink, Paas, Van der Vleuten, & Van Merriënboer (2013) was adapted with the permission of the author and used as a pretest and post-test for measuring the Extraneous cognitive load of students. The validity and reliability of the instrument were confirmed. Three groups of participants were selected randomly. They were taught using PowerPoint slides, Textbooks, and Instructional videos. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study could be useful from a theoretical, managerial, and academic standpoint. According to the findings, the extraneous cognitive load of participants of groups using textbooks and videos was found higher than the participants taught using power points presentation as an instructional medium.