NDLI: Cognitive load in percentage change problems: unitary, pictorial, and equation approaches to instruction

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Ngu, Bing Hiong Yeung, Alexander Seeshing Tobias, Stephen
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Eighth grade students in Australia (N = 60) participated in an experiment on learning how to solve percentage change problems in a regular classroom in three conditions: unitary, pictorial, and equation approaches. The procedure involved a pre-test, an acquisition phase, and a post-test. The main goal was to test the relative merits of the three approaches from a cognitive load perspective. Experimental results indicated superior performance of the equation approach over the unitary or pictorial approach especially for the complex tasks. The unitary approach required students not only to process the interaction between numerous elements within and across solution steps, but also to search for critical information, thus imposing high cognitive load. The pictorial approach did not provide a consistent approach to tackling various percentage change problems. Coupled with the need to coordinate multiple elements within and across solution steps, and the need to search for relevant information in the diagram, this approach imposed high cognitive load. By treating the prior knowledge of percentage quantity as a single unit, the equation approach required students to process two elements only. Empirical evidence and theoretical support favor the equation approach as an instructional method for learning how to solve percentage change problems for eighth graders.
Starting Page	685
Ending Page	713
Page Count	29
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00204277
Journal	Instructional Science
Volume Number	42
Issue Number	5
e-ISSN	15731952
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2014-01-30
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Cognitive load Mathematics education Percentage change problems Problem solving Learning & Instruction Educational Psychology Pedagogic Psychology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Education Developmental and Educational Psychology

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
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